I Need You To Need To
by Dashel
Summary: 'I Want You To Want To'Sequel Naruto is on a mission to a temple which is veiled in darkness and he's left basically blinded. Someone with better eyes than his could help him out leave him to die or take advantage of the situation any way they can.
1. Chapter 1

_Auth Note: Alright, alright. Demand was relatively high, so how could I refuse? Here is the sequel to _I Want You To Want To _posted not so long ago. If you haven't yet read that one you should probably stop now and go back to read it. It is required reading at this point. For those of you that have, enjoy _

_**Warning:**__ Possibly most if not all of this fic will contain just a little bit of graphic smut. It's pretty mild and though I suspect most of you just shouted 'Yay!' I need to put the warning in here because in the last story I skipped over the graphic stuff and I don't want anyone to stumble into it unawares. _

_ Except Naruto. _

_ Obviously._

_ - Dash_

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* * *

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**I Need You To Need To**

**Part I**

So this mission sucked.

Naruto figured that Granny Tsunade had been trying to placate him when she said that this was a B Rank mission. Go to the temple in the Land of the Sun and acquire the gold Orb before enemy ninja got it. So far, he hadn't seen any of these supposed enemy ninja and he'd been on the road for three nights already. It was getting boring.

He supposed he should be grateful, getting to go on a mission like this on his own. But he knew, deep down, that it was because things in the village were so tight at the moment. There were too many missions and not enough ninja. Without missions no money would come into the village. He wouldn't be totally on his own though, as soon as Sai finished up with his current mission he was going to rendezvous with Naruto. Together, both of them would complete the mission and fly back home. But, the rendezvous was still more than four days away and he hoped to be done by the time Sai arrived.

There was no way he needed help on this mission.

He arrived at the village during his fourth morning on the road -still three nights shy of Sai's arrival- and was greeted by one of the monks responsible for hiring him.

"Let's go to the New Temple so my Master can tell you the details," the monk said to him.

"Uh, sure."

Walking with the monk through the village, Naruto was taken back by his surroundings. This village was a minor village in a very small land, but his surroundings looked rich. The village itself was about a quarter of the size of Konoha, however, the houses were large, lavish looking affairs and the businesses looked busy and profitable. They passed several hotels that all looked luxuriant, not one little dive amongst them. There were also a lot of people walking around.

"Wow," Naruto commented looking around as they walked, "This place sure is popular."

The monk smiled at him, "Akemi is a vacation town. We have hot springs because of the mountain and the weather is perfect during our tourist season. It's a very popular place and we have people from all around spending time here every year."

Okay so that explained a lot. Walking past the hot springs spa, Naruto wondered if he might have enough money to stay there a night if he finished with the mission early and had extra time before Sai showed up. The thought suddenly made Naruto a little impatient to get the mission started.

It still took them ten more minutes to reach the Temple and another twenty before he was shown into a lavish looking chamber in the back of the temple.

The monk with him bowed before the only other man in the room.

"Master this is the ninja from The Hidden Leaf…"

Then monk paused and reddened slightly when he realized he hadn't gotten Naruto's name. Naruto didn't mind.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto supplied with pride.

The monk nodded his thanks and said, "This is Master Takahiro. He is responsible for safeguarding the Old Temple."

Naruto nodded to him.

"If you would prefer to freshen up before we get started, we have-" Takahiro began but Naruto waved him off.

"I'd like to get started right away if that's alright."

The Master seemed pleased by his response. "I am a little ashamed to admit that we need help with this," The Master started with a wry smile, "But since we haven't had a security issue like this in more than a hundred years, it's taken us a little off guard. How much information did Lady Hokage give you before you left?"

"Not a lot." Naruto admitted. "She said the letter you sent with the messenger was damaged and he didn't notice till he got to the village. All she could make out was that you needed something taken back to the Hidden Leaf for protection."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. I'm afraid there's a little more to it than that."

Rather than make him uneasy, Naruto was happy with the news. Maybe this mission would turn out to be more interesting than he'd thought it would be.

"I'm sure I can handle it," Naruto said with confidence.

The Master smiled and motioned for Naruto to come and look at a nearby map spread out on a table.

"The object that we want you to take back to Konoha is located in the Old Temple."

"The Orb?"

"That's right. Unfortunately, the Old Temple where our ancestors used to protect the Orb has been abandoned for centuries. There was a large war that wiped out all of the Master monks at the time but one. This monk spent the remainder of his life setting up the temple security systems. He taught his apprentice the secret of how to navigate the temple, but the apprentice himself died before he could pass on the knowledge. Since that time, some monks have tried to get into the temple, but none have ever come out again."

"Traps killed them?" Naruto guessed uncertainly.

"Yes, that's exactly right. We have a map of the trap system, but knowing where they are and being able to actually get past them are two different things. Unfortunately, we just don't have the skills. And it compounds matters when the entire temple has a permanent darkness cast over it that can't be dispersed by any mundane methods. We've taken torches there, but it doesn't seem to have an effect. The torch would not illuminate anything other than itself I'm afraid. We thought if we could show a ninja the map he might be able to get into the temple and retrieve the Orb in order to protect it."

This news wasn't good for Naruto. He wasn't really suited for this sort of a mission. However, it was still a challenge and Naruto could get into that.

"Granny Tsunade mentioned enemy ninja?" Naruto asked after peering at the map for a while.

"Yes, this is the reason we are even contemplating sending anyone in there after so long. A week ago we caught a ninja sneaking around the temple. He killed himself before we could capture him, but it has us worried that someone may be thinking of stealing the Orb. We haven't spotted any more since then, although it might just be a matter of time."

"What's so special about the Orb anyway?"

The Master frowned slightly at the question. "You might find this a little hard to believe, but it is said that the Orb is responsible for our land's perfect weather. We have perfect rainfall for crops, sunshine throughout most of the year, and it never gets very cold. It is why our village has such a large tourist trade. Our weather earns this village a lot of money for the traders here. Something like that could be worth a lot to another village."

"Aren't you afraid that if I take it away, the good weather will stop?"

"We have reason to believe that it doesn't matter where it is kept. The Orb is currently tuned to our land, so it should keep working even from the Fire Country. Unless, of course, someone reset it for a different location."

Naruto found it hard to believe that an Orb could influence the weather, but whatever, a mission was a mission.

"Okay. Where is the temple?"

"It's behind the village. There is a path from the back of this Temple that will lead you to the entrance of the Old Temple in the mountainside. It takes about a day to walk there from here."

Naruto figured that meant it was more like half a day's travel for him.

"I would suggest," The Master said watching Naruto's expression, "that you spend the rest of the day and night memorizing this map. You will not get far into the temple without it. You must remember that once you are inside you will not be able to see where you are going. The traps are all deadly so you must be prepared."

He had a point. Studying wasn't really Naruto's strong point so he tended not to try. But then again, his life hadn't depended on it before.

"I'll set out first thing tomorrow."

* * *

He'd been prepared for the temple, he'd studied the map longer and harder than he'd probably studied anything in his life. Although the monks had warned him about the darkness, he hadn't been prepared for just how dark it really was. It wasn't merely dark, it was black. He put his hand experimentally in front of his face and waved it around. Absolutely nothing changed in his view. He lit a match and just like the monk had told him, he could see the match head flare, but it illuminated nothing else. Not even the fingers holding it. He threw the match away and decided not to become too bogged down by this. He'd been forewarned about this, he knew what he would be up against and he was as prepared as he could be to face the challenge.

He did wonder briefly whether it might have been a smart idea to wait for Sai after all. With the possible exceptions of maybe the Hyuga family with their ocular abilities, Sai would probably have been the best-suited ninja for a job like this. Sai was stealthy, good at spotting traps and had lightening quick reflexes. But honestly, Naruto couldn't resist the challenge and he wasn't the sort to sit around waiting for help. And besides, who knew when the enemy ninja might turn up to get the Orb themselves. He couldn't risk that, right?

So with that in mind, he started off into the temple, careful to measure out his steps and ready to jump out of the way of any unknown traps at a moment's notice. He was doing well and even surprised on how well he'd prepared for this. He didn't run into anything unexpected and his memorized route through the temple made sure that he didn't trigger anything he was unprepared for. So long as he didn't get sidetracked or step off his pre-determined route he would be doing fine.

He was about half way to his goal when he thought he heard something in the darkness around him. He would have stopped and took more notice of the noise but he'd been just about to step around a trap he knew was directly in front on him. Distracted by the noise he didn't step far enough and his foot landed on a section of floor that gave way the moment he put pressure on it. It wasn't a wide gap though and he threw himself forward just as he lost his balance. He managed to grab the opposite edge and hung there for a few moments in relief. The relief was short lived though. He felt something whoosh over the new gap above him. Then he heard something thunk into the stone not far from where his fingers were hanging on.

He pulled himself up a bit, but it was difficult to hang on. The stone was smooth and fairly featureless. He flung out a hand in search of a better handhold and his hand found the hilt of a kunai. The tip was wedged in between the flagstones that made up the floor and was stuck in there tight enough that it could take most of his weight, allowing him to pull himself up out of the hole. He didn't try to pull the kunai out, it might help him on the way out to locate the trap he'd sprung.

He was a little confused about finding the weapon here though. Then he figured that whooshing must have had something to do with it. Without knowing it was there he must have triggered a second trap and it was just lucky for him that the second trap had helped him out of the first one. Very lucky actually.

But then he remembered the noise that had distracted him in the first place and took the time to listen to his surroundings. He didn't hear anything else and got to his feet, preparing to move on. Since that moment on though, he had the most uncomfortable feeling of being watched. But seeing as nothing was trying to kill him at this very moment he just figured it was his imagination and tried to put it out of his mind.

Continuing on, he entered what he remembered being described as the pedestal room and paused briefly just inside the doorway. The main trap in this room couldn't be jumped over or detoured around like the traps on the way in. This one needed timing and he couldn't avoid setting it off.

He stepped into the room, walked three paces forward and ducked. He felt something swoosh over his head, counted till five and then straightened up, walked another five paces and stepped smartly to the side. Something thunked into the ground beside him and when that happened he took a step forward, one to the right and then five more paces forward. He waited two more seconds stepped two paces to the left, rolled forward quickly and straightened up once more. After every movement he'd made, something lethal had landed just where he'd been. With his timing and reflexes Naruto had been able to make it through with only a fast beating heart and a huge triumphant smile. He had to admit to being a little worried about that last one, his reflexes and moving speed weren't the best but he could see why the monks hadn't been able to make it this far into the temple. He might not be that great with obstacles like these, but he was far better than any average, untrained person like the monks.

At least now that the trap had been sprung, he no longer had to worry about it. This trap would not reset itself anytime soon and he could move around the room freely. He moved up to where the pedestal was supposed to be and reached out.

Naruto was just about to lay his hand on the orb when he felt someone roughly grab him from behind. Before he could do anything, his attacker turned him and shoved him backwards. He felt his back hit the rough cold stone wall of the temple chamber knocking a little of his air out.

He could feel the warm breath of this attacker on his face and then the man in front of him stole his breath even further when he stepped in so their bodies were pressed up against one another and kissed him forcefully enough for him to bump his head on the stone behind him. One hand was placed of the side of his face, the other grabbed his hip in an iron grip. Both hands held him in place until his attacker let up and finally let him breathe again.

With newfound breath, came the ability to speak.

"Sasuke…?" Naruto whispered.

A mocking voice replied from just in front of him, "You'd better hope so."

Naruto couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Of course he'd known who it had been. He hadn't been kissed a lot in his life, but he knew what was familiar. The smell, the feel, it all came rushing back to him. All of a sudden he felt a little warm.

Sasuke continued, "What would you have done if I'd said 'no'?"

"Kicked your ass, stole the orb and gone home for a shower. A long one."

He could almost sense the smirk he knew would be on Sasuke's face as he replied, "And now you know?"

Naruto reached out tentatively where he assumed Sasuke's face would be till his fingertips brushed lightly over the smooth, cool skin of Sasuke's cheek. He ran his fingers ever so lightly down to his lips and now knowing where his target was leaned forward and kissed him back. It was a little less brutal than before. Sasuke didn't even hesitate to respond, the kiss deepened and he felt a tongue slide across his. The warm feeling slid a little lower and he reached an arm around Sasuke in an attempt to get their bodies even closer together.

Sasuke broke the kiss first and used the hand on Naruto's face to tip his head to the side so he could kiss his way up the jaw line till he got to Naruto's ear where he bit the earlobe a little painfully. With his mouth inches away he whispered into Naruto's ear.

"Are you still pretending?"

It didn't take more than a moment for Naruto to regain his focus enough to understand what Sasuke was asking him. He'd asked the question in such a mocking, teasing tone that at first he didn't know if Sasuke really wanted an answer. But the moments dragged on and Sasuke hadn't moved.

"Well? Tell the truth," he persisted.

"Does it matter?" Naruto asked eventually a little taken back. Why Sasuke would want to know was a little confusing for him. Okay, so the whole thing was more than a little confusing for him. He hadn't been expecting this to say the least. He wasn't even positive he would ever see Sasuke again let alone here on some boring little mission next to nowhere. He certainly hadn't been expecting that if he did see him again, that Sasuke would just grab him and start kissing him like this.

He had felt that the last time he'd seen Sasuke there was much regret felt all round. Probably for both of them. Naruto had been trying to get Sasuke to want to return to the village. Sasuke had made light of his determination in his mission to accomplish that goal and had challenged him to prove how much he wanted it.

The kiss dare.

If he really wanted to prove how far he'd go, he supposed he could have thought of a better idea. But after the kiss, sensing how much Sasuke wanted it, he'd decided to take things a little further. At the time, he had thought this would accomplish a few things. It would reinforce how much he cared, how determined he was and even giving him a taste of what he would be missing if he remained away from the village and out on his own. Alright, so that last bit was possibly a little egotistical on his part, but for some reason he hadn't thought so at the time. And besides, after having kissed him for a while, he'd just simply found himself not really wanting to stop where it was going.

Being with Sasuke wasn't really a regret, but telling him why afterwards had been. He'd figured Sasuke would be pissed and embarrassed and well…pissed. Apparently not. Naruto had told him he cared, told him he'd still enjoyed it, but he hadn't been sure if that had helped much. He'd left Sasuke before he'd had a chance to gauge his reaction properly. He'd plainly been afraid of what he might see. Obviously his fear had been unjustified.

Or had it?

"Maybe I just want to hear you say it."

Naruto swallowed a little when he felt those cool lips brush up against his warm neck.

"I never was pretending, Sasuke."

"Are you forcing yourself to let me do this?"

Boy, Sasuke sure was chatty. He was never the biggest conversationalist in the world, and wanting to talk at a time like this was a little frustrating.

"No. Stop asking so many questions!"

He felt those lips curl into a smile. "Is that impatience that I hear?"

"Do you really want to talk about it, here and now?"

After that sentence was uttered, Naruto realized something very important. He realized he'd been very stupid. Just why exactly was Sasuke here, now?

"You're here for the orb aren't you?" he asked the darkness.

* * *

_So, good beginning, bad? I know, it wasn't long enough since most of this chapter you read in the preview but I'll make the next update pretty quick just to make it up to you all. _

_How does everyone like Naruto's POV since the last one was from Sasuke's? I think it works cause it's nice to see what the other half of the story is thinking for a change. It does occur to me that I possibly make up back stories that are perhaps a shade to involved in a story that is basically just a boy meets boy, sort of fantasy fic but I find I just can't help myself. I just hope it works for everyone else as well. Does it draw you in or should I just get down to the groping? hehehe_

_- Dash_


	2. Chapter 2

I Need You To Need To

Part II

Sasuke stilled very quickly upon hearing that last question. He didn't have to say anything, Naruto had his answer.

He roughly pushed Sasuke away from him and took a step away from the wall. The problem now though was that he was disorientated. It was pitch black in here and Sasuke had moved him off his memorized route to the Orb when he'd grabbed him. He wasn't even sure where the Orb was now in relation to him and his next realization made the situation even worse. Sasuke had known it was Naruto, had been able to grab him and touch him without hesitation. It seemed that Sasuke could see at least a little of the room, probably with the aid of those eyes of his. Naruto didn't know how, he was the first to admit that he didn't fully understand how the Sharingan worked, but it _had_ to give Sasuke some kind of advantage here. If Sasuke really was the enemy he'd been warned about, he was probably in deep shit about now. In hindsight, it might not have been the best move, shoving him away like that. At least when Sasuke was kissing him, it meant that he wasn't actively trying to kill him.

"I thought you might have figured that out before now. Did you think I was just here for a chance to grope you in the darkness?"

Naruto suddenly found himself reverently wishing that had been the case. The alternative was much worse.

"Of course not. I just didn't think Granny Tsunade would have sent me out here if she thought you might show up, that's all."

"Oh? Does she think I'm a bad influence or something?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

Naruto could hear where Sasuke was, he didn't seem to be trying to hide his location. But it didn't really mean much. If Sasuke really could see down here, even a little, he could evade the blinded Naruto easily.

"Maybe more of a distracting influence." Naruto replied carefully.

"I'll take that as a compliment. But it wasn't like I expected to find you here, that was a surprise. I didn't realize the Fire Country wanted the Orb as well."

Naruto didn't know quite how to reply to that. "What are you talking about?"

Sasuke sighed. "How do you even function with that brain of yours, Dobe? Rain Country ninja are the ones trying to steal the Orb or didn't your pitiful village intelligence work that one out before they sent you here?"

Well no, they hadn't. But rather than admitting to that, Naruto tried a different version of the truth.

"We were hired by the temple keepers to take the Orb out of here and keep it safe."

Sasuke didn't seem to believe him. "Oh? So why aren't the monks in here getting the Orb for you?"

"The entire temple is trapped and in complete darkness in case you didn't notice. Not even the monks can retrieve the Orb, the knowledge on how to defeat the traps is lost to them."

"Uh huh. So you were sent to come into the darkness, past the traps and grab the Orb, I see. This mission relies on stealth, patience and navigating in the dark and she sent…you. Your Hokage has become senile then?"

He had a point, he wasn't best suited for this kind of mission. But it wasn't like Tsunade had all the facts to begin with. If she had, he very much doubted he would be here.

Naruto bit down the angry retort he was just about to spit back and instead very calmly said, "Well I got past it all didn't I?"

"Not yet. I could take the Orb right now and leave you to fend for yourself in the darkness if I wanted to."

That thought was very unappealing.

"Why do you even want the Orb?" Naruto asked pointedly. "It's a weather control device, it's not a doomsday machine. What could you possibly want with it?"

"Actually the same reason you want it. To stop the Rain ninjas from getting it."

"That's all?" Naruto asked with surprise. "Then we're not enemies. Look Sasuke, if I take the Orb, I can keep it away from them."

"I didn't say I didn't want the Orb. It's a powerful artifact. I just happen to not want the Rain ninja to get it as well."

"So you're going to take it and leave me here."

"I'm thinking about it."

Naruto snorted at the response. "I would've been able to get out of here if you hadn't taken me off my path," he muttered. "A moment ago you were pushing me up against a wall kissing me and now you're considering leaving me to possibly die. And you said I was ambivalent!"

"Ah, so you do know what the word means."

He sure did, he'd looked it up as soon as he'd gotten back to the village. Not that Sasuke needed to know that.

"I'm not so stupid you know."

There were a few moments of silence before Sasuke said. "Fine. Come here."

From the sound of his voice, Naruto knew what direction to find him in. He just misjudged the distance. Apparently he hadn't shoved Sasuke as far away as he'd thought. He took a couple of steps forward and almost ran into him. Sasuke grabbed his arm to stop him. Then he let his hand trail down till he could grab Naruto's hand instead.

"This way, and try to step where I step."

"I can't see anything. How am I supposed to do that?"

Sasuke sighed very deeply. "Just how did you make it this far? And how were you planning to get back out again?"

"I had it planned out," Naruto said back defensively. "I had it all memorized, but you had to go and distract me."

He could hear the smile in the voice. "Was it worth it?"

"That depends whether I make it out of here or not."

Sasuke started off with Naruto in tow. "I'm stung. What if I had done more than just kiss you?"

Unfortunately Naruto's brain took the time out to think about that one. He imagined being up against that cool stone wall again with Sasuke pressed up against his back. He imagined feeling his bare skin and… Naruto shook the image away.

"Worth potentially dying down here?" Very definitely maybe. "No, get real."

Sasuke actually chuckled a little at that. It had been so long, he couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Sasuke make a sound like that.

"I think I may have actually heard you lie to me."

"And that tickles your funny bone?" Naruto asked with obvious rancor.

"You're not a liar by nature and you're pretty bad at it. Actually knowing that you just lied and what you lied about just tickled something else. But I suppose that can wait."

The implications of exactly what it was that could wait gave him a bit of a shiver and he had to wonder why seeing Sasuke again was having this sort of an effect on him. It wasn't meant to.

Previously Naruto had instigated the intimacy between them for quite a few reasons. None of which at the time had been because he really desired his friend in that way. He hadn't really, not at the time. He had just wanted his friend back and feeling that bond again, in any way, shape or form was better than nothing to him. And it wasn't as though the experience had been terrible and he had admittedly enjoyed himself. He wouldn't have done it at all he supposed if there wasn't some small part of him that didn't mind being intimate with Sasuke. Surprisingly, it hadn't seemed weird at the time either. Not when he got right down to it. He sort of understood why as well.

People called him a little obsessed in his mission to get Sasuke back, and he supposed they were right in a way. He devoted as much time and mental energy to his obsession as most guys his own age dedicated to pursuing girls and training. There wasn't a day that he hadn't thought about getting Sasuke back and since the last time they had seen each other, those thoughts had become a little more X-rated. It had bothered him at first, but not so much anymore. So really it shouldn't surprise him that his bond with Sasuke had become a little deeper in some way. It hadn't changed how he thought of him at all, it had just taken on a new element now. What was really making him wonder was why he was anticipating those touches now. Now it seemed that it wasn't just enough to be near him anymore but that he needed to be touched by him too. He thought perhaps his mind had gotten so caught up in getting a close bond back with Sasuke again, that his wants and needs had gotten a little confused between a closeness mentally between them and a closeness physically.

But it wasn't like he had to admit _that_ to Sasuke either. The smug bastard would probably enjoy the effect he was having on him. It left Naruto wondering how Sasuke felt about it all. Sasuke had certainly become friendlier towards him, but he had to further wonder whether that was because Sasuke felt that same bond or whether he just wanted sex. Yet, Naruto found himself thinking of whether that would even make a difference to him at this point. For whatever reason, Sasuke was acting like his friend again and that was worth it, whatever the price. Of course the price wasn't without it's own rewards either.

Sasuke stopped a moment later and let go of his hand. He was probably picking up the Orb and stashing it somewhere. Well whatever, Naruto could always try and get it back later.

Naruto knew when Sasuke was done because he felt Sasuke's fingers touch his palm prompting him to take his hand again. Naruto did and Sasuke started to lead the way back out. What Naruto failed to mention was that as soon as they had found the pedestal he could have made his own way once more. He was back within his mental map and didn't really need the assistance anymore, but Naruto's mental map wasn't half as good as being able to actually see where you were going. And besides, he was enjoying the feel of being close to Sasuke and feeling him gripping his hand. It made it seem like they were in this adventure together and not as it may turn out later, against each other.

Halfway down the tunnel outside of the pedestal room Sasuke stopped so abruptly that Naruto ran into the back of him. He instinctively grabbed Sasuke's shoulder but not before he'd caused the other man to take an involuntary step forward. In a place like this, that wasn't a good thing. But according to Naruto's memory map, there wasn't a trap here.

"Dobe, watch where you're going," Sasuke hissed.

"I can't Sasuke. I can't see, remember."

"Whatever. Now be quiet."

Naruto obediently shut his mouth and listened intently.

For about thirty seconds.

"Sasuke, I don't-"

"Shhhh."

Just after Sasuke had hushed him he heard it. He heard a couple of people talking. They were still a ways off, maybe three rooms away, but they were coming closer. It seemed they were taking great pains to hide their charkas but apparently not to keep quiet.

"You've seen a map of this place, yes?" Sasuke asked him in a whisper.

"Yes,"

"I can see a concealed door about halfway up the corridor. Is that room safe, can you remember?"

Naruto wracked his brain for the information. He wasn't good at memorizing things and so any part of the temple that didn't have anything directly to do with his mission he hadn't really dwelled on. The monks had been thorough though and gone over everything with him and the answer eventually came.

"It used to be an ancient holding room, I think."

Sasuke seemed to spend a few moments deciding whether to trust Naruto's memory or not, but the voices just kept getting louder. There had to be at least four ninja. Naruto could make out their individual voices now.

"We'll risk it."

He dragged Naruto over to the door, carefully disarming the trap connected to the door and opening it up. At least that's what Naruto assumed he was doing. Every door was trapped in here. He'd had to get special training from the monks on how to disarm them without being able to see. Naruto heard the door slide open, surprised that it hadn't made more noise. Sasuke pushed him in first and Naruto heard Sasuke close the door just as quietly behind him.

Even through the stone, Naruto could hear them still talking as they passed by. It was muffled though and he could only just barely make out the words, but he could still hear them even though they'd lowered their voices. Evidently there must have been some sort of ventilation holes high up in the walls, but Naruto of course couldn't see them.

Both he and Sasuke had been masking their own chakra since entering the temple so unless they found the door and came looking, the pair of them would be safe enough in here till the other ninja left.

Of course, all this hiding stuff wasn't really his style. He'd have much preferred to face them head on and be done with it, but he could understand why Sasuke hadn't gone for that option. They didn't know for sure how many there were and Naruto was as good as blind in here. Plus, they had no way of knowing if the other ninja were similarly affected or not. Yeah, he could understand the hiding thing, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

He sensed Sasuke moving around the room but stayed put where he was. Eventually the sounds of the other ninja faded and Naruto whispered, "What do you see?"

"A blind Dobe in a room."

"Teme, c'mon."

Sasuke sighed. "It's more like a torture chamber than a holding room. Whatever these monks were in ancient times, they were serious about discouraging thieves. There's wall shackles, a few rusty tools, a workbench and a few other unimportant things."

Perfect. "You said it looked like a hidden door when we came in, d'you think they'll find it?"

"I only saw it because of my Sharingan. So unless they can sense hidden things or see through walls we should be hidden well enough."

Naruto didn't know if that was a relief or not. He didn't like waiting around either.

/"We can't find the Orb."/ Naruto almost jumped at the sound. It was coming from the corridor outside. Whoever was speaking must be right near one of those holes.

/"It must be here."/

/"It's possible it is in another room or fallen off the pedestal and rolled elsewhere but we can't search in this darkness."/

/"At least we've disabled the traps. But it's still going to take some searching. We'll have to wait till we can dispel the jutsu and lift the darkness before we can search properly. That means we have to wait for Masu. I don't want to take the chance that it's still here and we've missed it so I'm going to leave the bulk of the men here to watch the place. You take two others to meet up with Masu. It shouldn't take him more than two days to get here."/

/"Yes Sir."/

/"Yes."/

/"Of course."/

From what Naruto could tell there had been at least four different voices in that conversation and by the sound of it, there were a lot more that must be around. So maybe hiding wasn't such a bad option. But now it looked as though they might be stuck here for two days. More if it took the ninja a long time to search before moving on.

Naruto waited till the sounds faded away before he spoke again.

"Two days? Sasuke, even if there're ten of them we can still take them. Why are we waiting?"

"Normally I would agree with you. But all it would take would be three of them to be any good and we risk losing the Orb. It isn't worth it."

Sasuke was right, but Naruto was impatient. "I say it's worth the risk."

"Then, by all means, go get yourself killed. I would prefer to assure the mission is carried out."

By the sound of his voice, Naruto managed to get closer to Sasuke without running into anything terribly painful. When he got closer the felt a hand on his ankle and Sasuke told him to sit down. He did so but after about five minutes he got bored.

"Sasuke-"

"Shut up, Dobe."

Naruto sighed.

Ten minutes later…"At least tell me what the room looks like."

"I need to rest my eyes so I stopped using the Sharingan. I can't see at the moment."  
"Sasuke-"

"If you say my name one more time I will silence you myself." Sasuke snapped.

"You wouldn't hit someone who was blind, would you?"

"Normally no, but I may make an exception for you. Besides, there are other ways to silence you than hitting you."

Well, that scared him not in the least. He grinned.

"Sasuke."

For someone that couldn't see, Sasuke did quite well. With a palm flat on Naruto's chest, he pushed him backwards onto the ground and climbed over him and silenced him with his lips. For a virtually blind person Naruto was pretty impressed when he found his lips on the first try. He'd expected Sasuke to smack him upside the head, but this was certainly better. And he definitely wasn't bored anymore.

While he was being kissed, Sasuke unzipped the front of his jacket and slipped his free hand underneath his black t-shirt. Palm flat the hand moved up his chest, fingers briefly flicking a nipple on their way past. Naruto groaned into the kiss and Sasuke let him breathe again. He hadn't wanted him to stop though so he tried to get Sasuke to kiss him again the same way he'd accomplished it before.

"Sasuke."

It came out a little breathy and Sasuke stilled for a moment. The pause didn't last long though. He leaned in and kissed him long and hard before scooting further down, pushing the t-shirt up and kissing, his stomach heading up while his fingertips teased just in underneath top of his pants.

He said, "Say it again." And a tongue flicked out over a nipple so when he said, "Sasuke," again, it came out in between proper words and that breathy little sigh just like before.

Sasuke's fingers hooked on the side of his pants instantly and drew them down. His lips went to attack the exposed hip and whatever else was slowly being revealed. Eventually he drew them down over his groin, the cool stone beneath his ass making him shiver slightly until he felt the warm breath waft against his by now very hard cock. But Sasuke didn't go any further.

"Again," he demanded.

Was it possible that Sasuke was getting some sort of satisfaction out of hearing his name said in that way? It seemed more than possible. He'd wanted Naruto to stop saying it before and now he just wanted to hear him say his name again and again, his voice distorted by the pleasure he was receiving.

"Sasuke."

He felt a warm tongue run up the underside of his cock and then wetness enveloped him almost fully and he moaned…loudly.

/"What was that?"/

The pair of them stilled at the sound of the voice.

/"What was what?"/

/"You didn't hear that? It was like a groan or something."/

/"You're letting those ghost stories get to you again. Look just cause that old guy said this place was haunted doesn't mean squat. You're letting your imagination get the better of you."/

/"Whatever."/

The voices started fading again.

He felt more than heard Sasuke chuckle considering that he hadn't moved his mouth. He did now though, and hand wrapped around him instead.

"Let's see if we can't scare up some more ghost sounds." Sasuke suggested.

"Maybe we should stop." It was a hard thing to suggest considering what was happening but for once he thought he'd follow Kakashi Sensei's advice and try to think with his brain a little more often.

Sasuke hadn't really moved other than his hand which was still working it's magic on him. Those quick, talented, deft fingers which were making him…

"No really, Sasuke you have to stop, someone will hear us."

"Just try to be quiet then."

Even Naruto had to scoff at that idea. Lots of people constantly told him to be quiet and it never ever worked, why should it now when he had even less control over himself?

"I don't think I can," he said honestly.

Sasuke didn't respond at first. He ran his tongue around the head of his cock and then asked, "You really want me to stop?"

Naruto had made sure he bit back a moan after that one but he knew he couldn't keep doing it.

"I don't want you to. But I think you have to."

Silence. Then, "Make me."

"What?"

"I said make me. You keep saying we should stop, yet you're lying there passively not so much as even attempting to move away from me. If you really want me to stop you should stop it yourself."

How was it that the asshole knew exactly how to deal with him to best suit himself? Naruto hadn't moved because quite simply he hadn't wanted to. He asked Sasuke to stop because he knew that while the Uchiha was doing what he was doing, Naruto just didn't have the willpower to act on his own to stop it.

Well fine, Sasuke was so sure of himself, maybe it was time to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face. Even in the darkness, he could _feel _it was there.

"Alright," Naruto said simply.

It cost him a lot to move right then, but he managed it. He knocked Sasuke's hand away and slid out from beneath him without stopping to think about what he was doing.

He rolled over, got onto his hands and knees in preparation of getting to his feet but he was stopped in the process. Not forcefully stopped, but stopped just by a touch. He felt Sasuke's hand on his lower back and felt it climb higher. As the hand climbed up to his shoulder, he could feel Sasuke lean over him. Now he felt weight in that hand as Sasuke used it to brace himself. He might still have his shirt on, but Sasuke had previously pulled his pants well down so that all he could feel between their two bodies when Sasuke leaned in close was the loose fabric of Sasuke's pants. The cloth didn't hide the hardness beneath it. If he wasn't so stubbornly trying to prove a point, he might have pushed back on him. The fingers of Sasuke's other hand trailed up ever so lightly and slowly over his crack. He couldn't help the shiver _that_ created.

"You're not helping," Naruto growled softly to him.

"I know," Sasuke replied smugly. "That's sort of the point. Surely you can still resist me. After all, wasn't the first time we did this, just you proving a point. It wasn't like you wanted me. Keep moving away from me if it's that easy."

Bastard. Who was proving a point now, huh? "You're holding me down."

"You might not be able to beat me in a fight, but I think we both know you're stronger than I am physically. Move me, make me stop."

"Bite me, Teme," Naruto told him off harshly.

Apparently being told off was enough. Sasuke took the weight off his hand and started moving it back down his body till it came out from beneath his t-shirt. He felt Sasuke's lower body move away from his ass and was just waiting for that retreating hand to leave his body completely before moving again. It got as far as his lower back and stopped. He felt something wet on his ass cheek and then Sasuke bit him.

He almost jumped up in surprise but the hand on his back exerting a little pressure seemed to want to keep him from moving. Also the fact that his pants were down around his knees, his legs out apart as much as his pants would allow didn't help his movement much either.

He then felt the fingers of that other hand spread his cheeks a little and then he felt a tongue. Naruto gasped.

Apparently Sasuke didn't have any qualms doing anything he wanted to once he set his mind to it. And his mind seemed very set indeed. Seconds later the hand on his back stopped pushing down and moved around to grab his cock again. Naruto bit the inside of his lip to stop himself making another noise.

He didn't want to give in to Sasuke, he really didn't. But he had to decide on what he wanted more. Did he want Sasuke to win or stop? If they made any noise the enemy would hear them. Well, that might not be a problem for Sasuke, he wasn't much of a noise maker if memory served.

"They'll hear us," Naruto tried again.

Sasuke instantly stopped what he was doing, leaned over him once more and Naruto felt a piece of cloth being pushed into his mouth. He was confused but he let it happen.

"You mean they'll hear you," Sasuke corrected him. "Then bite down on that and don't make a sound."

He felt the hand near his hole move and a finger slipped inside. He groaned into the rag and bit down. It was almost soundless.

When Sasuke straightened up again he clamped a hand on Naruto's shoulder, forcing him to straighten up back onto his knees only. Those delving fingers slipped out of him and then he pulled the shirt and jacket up over Naruto's head. He must have spent a few moments getting rid of his own shirt and Naruto helped him by reaching around and undoing the tie on his pants. While he was doing that a he felt Sasuke's finger probe him again and then second finger entered him and began spreading him.

It didn't matter how much preparation he got though and Sasuke surprisingly never seemed to rush through this part, he knew from past experience that it was going to hurt. Not too much thanks to Sasuke, but enough. He was eager to get to the part when it didn't hurt much anymore, when he could just feel Sasuke pushing into him and nothing of the rest of the world.

He got done with Sasuke's pants and wrapped his hand around the newly freed erection. With his free hand he moved the probing fingers away from him. Hopefully Sasuke would get the message. He did.

But apparently the hint wasn't enough. Sasuke moved in closer, pressed flush now against Naruto's back and whispered into his ear while he reached around and plucked the cloth out of his mouth.

"Tell me you want this. Tell me you're doing this for no other reason than you want to."

"I want to," Naruto told him in a breathless whisper.

"I don't know whether to believe you."

"Sasuke, I want you."

"Good. You'll need this." Sasuke pushed the wadded up cloth back into his mouth. Then he pushed him down till he was back on his hands and knees on the ground.

"Because," Sasuke continued, "I'm going to make you need it."

* * *

_Notes:_

_So that was fast. I was initially going to have them dance around each other a little more before I got to the rampant fucking, but oh well, what are sequels to just continue exactly where you left off. Well at least I made it as far as the second chapter. _

_Review review review. No really, I mean it. Please? Bribry didn't seem to work so I'm hoping unashamed begging will. This fic is on a lot of favorites lists, but has very little reviews, so don't be shy!_

_-Dash_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the late update guys, been very sick. Also had a lot of trouble uploading this because of issues with the site. Shouldn't take as long next time! - Dash_

I Need You To Need To

Part III

Naruto woke up a little later unsure of what had awakened him at first. It was possibly just the cold. He was lying naked on the cold stones on his side and his body was covered in goose bumps. He sat up groaning, stiff from lying on the stone and patted the ground around him hoping to find his discarded clothing. He came up empty handed and was momentarily worried before he realized that Sasuke would be able to take a look around later and find them for him. Or not, depending on his mood. He may find them or he might not because he either wanted him to remain naked or just to mess him around. Sasuke was a little unpredictable at the best of times.

Thinking of Sasuke, Naruto wondered where he was too. His hands hadn't felt him when he'd quickly groped for his clothes, but now that he was properly listening for him he could hear him just a little ways off. He must have been asleep, but he must also have been in the middle of a nightmare too by the sounds of it. He was groaning and moving around and as Naruto crawled toward the sounds, an arm hit his side in its flailing. He reached out and his hand felt the warm skin of Sasuke's belly, the muscles underneath his fingertips jumping.

He wondered if he should wake him or not. He probably should, he seemed to be having a very bad dream.

On all their missions together as children, Naruto had been woken up a couple of times in the middle of the night by Sasuke's nightmares. It was pretty rare though but when it happened, Sasuke was very hard to wake up and on the first few times he did wake him up, Sasuke had come out of his dream swinging. Naruto had gotten wiser over time though and just threw things at him from a distance to wake him. But even those dreams had been nothing compared to this.

Naruto decided he'd risk the violent wake up and felt out Sasuke's shoulder and gave him a shake.

"Sasuke, wake up."

Sasuke didn't wake up but at the sound of his voice he did seem to calm down a little. He didn't thrash around anymore but his breathing was quick and he felt sweaty to the touch. He still groaned occasionally.

It was funny really, super ninja prodigy Uchiha Sasuke who would normally wake to full alertness at the sound of a twig snapping half a mile away probably wouldn't wake up now if Naruto slapped his face. Well that probably wasn't true, but it was weird how Sasuke's nightmares just tuned him out to the world around him.

Naruto wondered what he could have been dreaming about. It was likely, when they were younger, that Sasuke got nightmares from when his clan had been wiped out. It would give anyone nightmares. But now it could still be that or it could come from something that had happened since then. Naruto had no idea and that annoyed him that he didn't know as much about Sasuke's life anymore. According to Sasuke himself he'd done a lot of vile things in order to get where he was today so the nightmare was most likely self-inflicted pain. Naruto tried not to think about it.

Now that he was calmer and apparently still as unresponsive, Naruto really took notice of the body underneath his hand. The skin felt very hot, a little sweaty, but smooth and surprisingly soft over the tense shoulder muscles. He knew, from when he'd bothered to take the slightest bit of notice, that his own skin didn't feel so smooth from a life of being out in the elements and being injured in some way on just about every mission he'd been on. Sasuke had apparently spent most of his life while they had been parted training in underground lairs where not even the sun could touch him. The effect, he had to admit, felt amazing underneath his hand. So smooth with hard muscles underneath. It surprised him that he hadn't really noticed that before. He let his fingers trail up to Sasuke's face, lightly skimming over his jaw, lips and brow. He wished he could see what his fingers were feeling but thanks to the never-ending darkness he had to let his touch be his only sight. Through those touches he began to get a sense of perhaps why all those girls thought Sasuke was so attractive. He hadn't really given it much thought in the past and he supposed a part of that had been jealousy. But now that he had a proper chance to think about it, he could sort of understand what a lot of people saw in Sasuke's looks.

His fingertips found Sasuke's lips again and Naruto leaned down over him, brushing those lips against his for a moment before pressing their lips together fully. Sasuke moaned lightly and parted his lips enough for their tongues to find one another. It might have been an unconscious reaction because it took a few moments for Sasuke to appear to be fully awake, and when he did wake up he bit Naruto's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Ow!"

Sasuke pushed him away and sat up quickly. After a few moments of apparently getting his bearings Sasuke asked, "Naruto?"

"Who'd you think it was, the First Hokage?" His words came out slightly muffled because his fingers were feeling around his lip, inspecting the damage. "Why did you do that, Teme?"

"I didn't know…" Sasuke began but he apparently thought better of it and asked instead, "Just why were you kissing me while I was asleep anyway? It's a little bit creepy, don't you think?"

Naruto was a little annoyed that Sasuke was making this into something that was somehow his entire fault and replied, "I like you better when you're asleep. You can't be an asshole when you're unconscious. At least I thought you couldn't be."

"You shouldn't try to be funny, it doesn't work. What else did you do while I was asleep?"

"Oh, you know, groped you, drew on you, stuck things up your nose," Naruto lied.

"That's the second time you've lied to me," Sasuke told him a little more calmly. "Why do you bother when you know I can tell?"

"Because when I tell you the truth you don't really listen. But when I lie, you immediately believe the opposite. It's easier to tell you the truth if I lie to you."

"That made no sense."

"Of course it doesn't make sense. Nothing I do when I am around you makes any kind of sense to me!"

Naruto scooted backwards till he felt a wall and laid back on it at an angle. Only his head and shoulders were touching it but at least he could rest a little. After a moment he heard Sasuke get up and walk over to him. He felt the weight as Sasuke sat on his outstretched legs and knew that Sasuke must be able to see again for the moment. He also noticed that he wasn't the only one still naked.

"Take your hand away from your mouth." Sasuke ordered.

Naruto did as ordered and he felt one of Sasuke's hands cup his chin securely to keep his head still while the fingers of his other hand lightly inspected the damage to his lip. Sasuke had gotten him good. It wasn't bleeding so badly now but he could still feel the warm blood on his chin where it had dripped after the initial bite.

Sasuke scooted closer so that he was practically sitting in Naruto's lap and leaned in. He licked the blood off his chin and ducked his head down to catch a drop that must have landed on his chest. Once that was done he carefully licked the blood off Naruto's lip. Despite the pain to his bottom lip he found the process very pleasant. But he was still a little annoyed.

"Waking you is like waking a dog from a dream. The dog wakes up all scared from the dream and bites you before he realizes what he's doing."

He heard Sasuke sigh. "First you compare me to a toad and now to a dog. It's not flattering."

"It wasn't meant to be," Naruto told him bluntly. Then in a softer voice he asked, "Were your dreams scaring you?"

"I don't remember," Sasuke replied after a moment. He was very obviously lying. "How fast will your lip heal?"

"Fast."

"Good. Don't wake me like that again. It isn't safe."

Naruto desperately wanted to pry, but getting Sasuke angry while they were trapped like this wasn't going to be helpful.

"Get off me, my legs are going to sleep and the floor is cold."

"Tough. I'm comfortable."

Naruto shook his head, reached down and grabbed high up on Sasuke's legs. He pulled him forward so that he was properly sitting in his lap and Naruto could draw his legs up off the floor, his legs bent behind where Sasuke was now sitting. It hadn't been easy, Sasuke was heavier than he looked. The feeling started to return to his legs with painful pins and needles.

Sasuke leaned back on Naruto's legs and apparently made himself more comfortable. He felt Sasuke's crooked knees against his sides and rested his arms on those knees like the arms of a sofa. Without the pins and needles and cold stone he might have been quite comfortable himself.

A metal picture swam across his mind of what the view would be like if he could see right now. Sasuke was naked and sitting on his lap, legs spread, leaning back.

He could already feel the curve of an ass resting against his groin and tried frantically to make the images leave his mind or soon Sasuke would begin to feel what he was thinking about.

Naruto didn't realize he'd been quiet for so long which was rare enough for Sasuke to notice something was up.

"Do you wish you could see right now more than anything else?"

And now apparently it seemed that Sasuke could read his mind.

Too late he remembered that Sasuke _could_ see right now. Which meant he could probably see the expression on Naruto's face. He could see his blind eyes roving around in a desperate attempt to see what was in front of him.

"No, I wish I had a cushion "

"I am beginning to like it when you lie to me. You're right, it does make the truth a little clearer."

"What makes you think I'm lying now?" Naruto asked irritably.

"A few reasons. I can hear it in your voice, I can see it in your face and I can feel it that my seat isn't as soft as it was a couple of moments ago."

"I thought you were going to give your eyes a rest."

"I will in a moment, but I like being able to see you for now. Do you wish you could see me?"

Not wanting to trust his voice, Naruto nodded.

"Use touch to see for you." He suggested. Or was it a command?

Sasuke didn't know that's what he'd been doing more or less while Sasuke had been asleep. But Naruto wasn't about to enlighten him. It wasn't like this though, despite his lie, he hadn't been groping him earlier merely appreciating. This however was an open invitation to touch wherever he liked. He went to reach out but stopped.

"What?"

"You can see me," Naruto pointed out.

"Is that a problem? Would you prefer it if I couldn't? Considering past events, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Or do you think this time I have an unfair advantage?"

"Something like that." Naruto muttered. It wasn't true and Sasuke must have known that, but for once he didn't comment on it.

Honestly he was a little embarrassed. In most of their encounters thus far Sasuke had been the one leading things more or less. He was almost always the instigator, he was always the one who paced things and he was always the one that took control. And that was fine by Naruto, He'd had no experience to speak of before Sasuke so he'd been more than happy to let the apparently more experienced man lead. He'd only ever touched Sasuke in the heat of things and he'd never really gotten a proper chance to explore. It made it easier in a way that he couldn't see, it eased his embarrassment somewhat. But knowing that Sasuke could see him negated that ease.

"I can't see you anymore," Sasuke told him after a moment.

"Don't lie."

"Fine," Another moment. "There, I really can't see you anymore."

This time Naruto let his mental picture from before float freely into his mind. With them both slightly leaning away from each other this way Naruto let his hands trail up from where they were on Sasuke's knees up his thighs and let his thumbs stroke the crease where leg met groin.

He heard Sasuke's breath hitch a little when his hands went a little closer but instead of continuing on, he ran his hands up over his stomach and as far up his chest as he could reach without having to lean forward. He marveled again at the feel. Such soft smooth skin, with the obvious but delicate muscle tone beneath. Sasuke wasn't so tense this time, the muscles felt relaxed, tone but not too hard. He could dig his fingers in, feel the slight resistance there.

He knew Sasuke's head had lolled back because he could feel it resting against his upraised knee. He didn't make much noise, Sasuke never did. Naruto knew he himself was not so controlled though. But even without the noises of approval to guide him he could tell Sasuke seemed very relaxed. Well that wouldn't last too long.

He ran his hands back down and then eventually lightly over Sasuke's by now hardening erection. Sasuke gasped at that one and Naruto felt bold enough to take it in his hand firmly and begin to slowly work it. The fingers of his free hand skimmed down over his leg then in between his ass cheeks where they brushed ever so lightly over the puckered opening.

The intake of breath from Sasuke this time wasn't a moan and if Naruto didn't know any better he might say it had a little bit of fear in it. And sure enough, Sasuke grabbed his wrist, hard.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked puzzled.

Sure this was the first time Naruto had touched him like this. Like he said, Sasuke had always been the one to lead in the past and he'd never balked at that. In fact Sasuke never seemed to get embarrassed about any sort of sex stuff. Which was why he was so shocked now.

But not as apparently shocked as Sasuke was. Naruto was just about to suggest that they stop when Sasuke loosened his grip a little and put Naruto's fingers in his mouth coating them with saliva before putting the hand back where it had been as though he had internally decided on something.

"Nothing is wrong." And then he said something very un-Sasuke like. "I trust you."

It was a nice thing to say at a very weird time. And considering the only person Sasuke ever seemed to trust was Sasuke, it was strange he had said it at all.

Naruto decided not to ask. Not yet anyway.

From here on in, he could only mimic what Sasuke had previously done to him. He imagined that if he were to do anything wrong, Sasuke would soon set him straight. He teased the opening with his fingertips for a while, whilst his other hand continued to touch Sasuke wherever and however he wanted.

When he figured he'd teased him enough he slipped a finger inside and then two. When he did Sasuke's body stiffened a little and Naruto thought he'd hurt him. But then he moaned.

That moan had been a little too much. With Sasuke sitting on him like this it was starting to get a little uncomfortable. He moved slightly, trying to get in a better position, but Sasuke solved the problem by planting both hands on Naruto's hips and lifting himself up slightly. He must have felt what Naruto's issue was. It felt good not being squashed anymore. When he moved Naruto had ceased touching him but he grabbed Sasuke's legs to stop him when he felt Sasuke's entrance teasing the tip of his cock. He hadn't been expecting that.

"You can't, it'll hurt. I haven't-"

"It has always hurt. But this will not hurt like before."

Before what? Naruto was about to protest again but Sasuke pushed down, the tip entering him and grunted. Slowly, very slowly he eased himself down till he was again in Naruto's lap, legs now moved position to take his weight. He did nothing but breath heavily for a while. Naruto meanwhile was just concentrating on staying still. He wanted so badly to push upwards but he didn't want to cause Sasuke any more pain. What he was feeling was indescribable, he'd never felt anything like it. Of course it was pretty much the same when it was he in Sasuke's position. It was a different kind of feeling obviously but still good, still amazing.

Naruto sat up more, and put a hand to the back of Sasuke's head, coaxing him to duck his head down enough to be kissed. While their tongues were intertwined, Sasuke started to move. Pleasure shot through Naruto making him bite down on his already damaged lip. The pain was good for him though. He'd never felt anything like this and he needed the distraction otherwise things might end quicker than he wanted.

He grabbed Sasuke's hips in the hope of slowing him down a little but Sasuke apparently wasn't paying attention. Exerting a little more strength this time made him pay more attention and Sasuke grunted at the interruption.

"What?" He asked breathlessly.

"What's your hurry?"

Sasuke didn't respond but he did slow down a little. He was always so rushed with things. He never wanted to take his time, never wanted to dwell, he always seemed to treat sex like he did with most things in his life with a brutality and vigor that was more than a little worrying. Naruto had never complained even though it had sometimes been a little painful, sometimes left him feeling a little cold he always went with it because it felt good and because it was Sasuke doing it.

Wait, what?

Did he really care about that?

Apparently so. When he realized it he felt a low down flutter that meant an untimely ending and distracted himself further by attacking Sasuke's neck with his lips and teeth. Sasuke moaned a little and he felt arms go around his shoulders and muscles tighten slightly around his cock. He couldn't hold back it was just too much. With reluctance he gave in and let his orgasm take him.

What he hadn't realized at the time was how close Sasuke was either. His cock had been rubbing between their bodies and just after Naruto filled him up he came as well with a throaty growl.

Naruto collapsed back against the wall again with Sasuke on top of him both of them breathing incredibly hard. He could feel Sasuke's heart racing through his chest along with his own. It was hard to figure out in his exhausted state which was his and which was Sasuke's heartbeat.

They stayed like that for a few minutes more, neither of them having the energy to move. After this time usually Sasuke would get up and move away to stretch out and recover but he stayed put for a long time.

Naruto eventually put an arm around him.

"I thought you were supposed to have some amazing stamina or something," Sasuke said mockingly after a few moments.

Naruto heaved a big sigh, this was more like Sasuke.

"If you didn't tease me like crazy before I might have. I didn't notice you complaining when you came all over us both."

"I suppose you have a point." Then quietly he added. "I needed that."

Naruto didn't quite know how to respond. He needed that? He'd had Naruto only yesterday (if now was even a new day, he had no real way to tell). Just what had he needed this time that made all the difference? He knew he wasn't the brightest guy at the best of times, but he couldn't figure it out. And he had a more pressing issue anyway.

As nice as this was without Sasuke moving away from him after the first couple of minutes afterwards, their combined weight and nothing to sit on but stone floor had made his ass so numb it was bordering on painful.

"Sasuke, I gotta move, my ass is asleep."

Sasuke slowly, accompanied by a few groans, got to his feet.

"Give me your hands," he ordered.

With a certain sense of foreboding, Naruto held out his hands which Sasuke immediately took and pulled Naruto painfully to his feet.

"You liar," Naruto accused. "You could see the whole time, couldn't you?"

He could just imagine the grin. That arrogant little smirk.

"You're accusing me of being untruthful? That would be so out of character for me," Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"Damnit Sasuke, I-"

But Sasuke cut him off by holding a hand to his mouth. At first Naruto thought it was because Sasuke didn't want to hear what he was saying. But after a few moments he heard it too. A scratching sound over at the other end of the room. Naruto had no idea where it was in relation to their hidden door, but he had to assume it was over there somewhere.

The hand disappeared and Sasuke moved away from him silently. He fervently hoped it was to find their clothes. It was, he realized, a moment later when he felt clothes pushed into his hands. He went about hurriedly dressing as quietly as he could in the darkness. He was just pulling his jacket on when Sasuke grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back up against the wall. He picked up Naruto's arm, pushed up his sleeve and with a light touch spelt a word out onto his arm with his fingertip.

_Stay._

Naruto wanted to argue but Sasuke had already moved away and he wasn't stupid enough to try and find him or call out to him. He knew deep down that him being near blind meant that he might get in Sasuke's way if they were going to fight. But it still sucked feeling like he needed to be protected or something. Whenever he was around Sasuke he always seemed like he needed protecting. This time he couldn't see and last time he'd been injured. Just once he'd like to show Sasuke that he could keep up with him.

Obviously that scratching was coming from the door or Sasuke wouldn't be so worked up about it. Their enemy must have found the door and were trying to open it. The thought occurred to him that they might have found the door because he and Sasuke had been making too much noise. That was a little embarrassing on a few levels. And it had been stupid of them. Here they were trying to hide and they spoil it all just to have a little fun. Most embarrassing was that someone might have heard them having it. Naruto was very glad no one could see how red his face had become.

Being glad was very short lived though. Eventually the door scraped open and while both of them had been ready for the intrusion they hadn't been prepared for the light.

Naruto had been down here at least a day or more by this point in total blackness. When the door opened and the bright dazzling light hit his eyes it literally stunned him. But it wasn't just the light that stunned him; it was something in the light. The light was not only very bright was some sort of attack. It assaulted his senses so much it seemed like a physical blow direly to his head. The pain only lasted a moment before darkness took him once more and he fell to the stones in an unconscious heap.

* * *

_Notes: Well well well, another night of fun in the dark and it looks like the fun might be over. Well, probably not totally just moved to a different setting hehe._

_I want to thank everyone who's reading this and a HUGE thanks to you guys you that took the time out to review the last chapter. I was too sick to write much so it was nice to hear those kind words while laid up. I'm still sick so I wouldn't have gotten anything done if it hadn't been for you guys! Thanks again!_

_- Dash _


	4. Chapter 4

I Need You To Need To

Part IV

Naruto woke up later in darkness once more. But this time it was the regular sort of night time darkness with stars and some light from a small campfire not too far away. He was tied to a tree about twenty feet from the main camp, on his knees and facing the firelight. He could see Sasuke tied similarly on the tree next to him. Sasuke was watching two men talk not too far away. Naruto couldn't hear them talking but he knew Sasuke could tell what they were saying just by watching their lips move. He did nothing to break Sasuke's concentration and merely watched him as he watched the two men.

It had been three months since Naruto had last seen Sasuke. Three months and four days since Sasuke had taken him from the Village Hidden in the Shadows. Not that he'd been counting. And while they'd just spent time together in the blackness of the temple, Naruto hadn't seen him at all. Had only felt him and heard him and was surprised at just how relieved he was to now be able to see him properly.

He looked no different than the last time Naruto had seen him. Same milk pale skin, same raven black hair, same slightly bored, slightly annoyed look that seemed to be his default expression. Naruto couldn't see too much but he didn't seem to have any new scars or wounds. He looked just as good as before.

The men finished their conversation and moved off. The red faded from Sasuke's eyes and he looked around to find Naruto staring at him.

"Have a nice nap Dobe?"

"Bite me Sasuke."

There was that arrogant little smirk. He never thought he'd enjoy seeing it, but it was so distinctly Sasuke and he was just happy to be able to see again.

"I would if I could. But it might have to wait a little while."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What were they talking about?"

"They were deciding whether to kill us now or keep us around for questioning. Apparently after seeing your headband and knowing where you come from they're a little reluctant to kill you. Making an enemy of a powerful neighbour like the Fire Country is not a good move for them. They're going to wait till their Master comes and let him decide. Meanwhile they've taken the Orb out of my things. I suggest we take it back when the opportunity presents itself."

Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't just talking himself up. He himself had a way to free himself. They'd tied his hands behind his back so he couldn't make signs, but that didn't mean he couldn't cut the rope with his wind element when he wanted to. These ninja had obviously underestimated the pair of them.

In a way, how they had been caught was good for them. Well as far as being caught could be. As it turned out neither of them had been injured in an all out fight and neither of them had been killed yet. All they had to do was wait it out, take the Orb back and hightail it. Once he was back in the temple village he was safe, the Rain ninja couldn't afford to be seen there if they didn't want to risk retaliation from the Fire Country.

"Do you know how long it's been?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Just one night in the temple. This is the night of the second day. Or early morning of the third probably. Why?"

Naruto did a bit of adding in his head. "Sai is coming for me not this coming day but the day after," Naruto replied.

He hadn't realized just how much time had passed. He was a little ambivalent about it. Sai coming meant he would be able to return home soon. Then again Sai coming meant that he would have to return without Sasuke. Again.

"Sai?" Sasuke asked as if trying to remember the name. Then he seemed to remember and frowned. "Oh, my replacement."

Naruto was a little annoyed at Sasuke's reaction. "Yeah, your replacement. What, did you think the world stopped turning just because you deserted us? We still have missions to do whether you're there or not. He's a good guy. You'd like him actually, he doesn't have any emotions either."

Naruto didn't know why he'd snapped at Sasuke. Sasuke's reaction to Sai had been part of it, but he knew that the frustration of parting ways again was the main reason. Sasuke was just an easy target to vent those frustrations on, especially when he was being a jerk.

"You take things so personally Dobe. I'm sure the rest of your team aren't as upset at my leaving."

"Yeah right. Sakura loves you, you know."

Sasuke didn't look impressed. "She only thinks she loves me. She doesn't know me at all. Nobody who really knows me ever really…" Sasuke stopped and shook his head. "Never mind."

"That's your problem. You don't let anyone get to know you."

"You don't think you really know me by now?"

That gave Naruto pause. Sasuke hadn't exactly shared much with him as far as Naruto could tell. He didn't for one moment believe that his relationship with Sasuke was anything special for the other man. It wasn't exactly a sharing of feelings kind of thing.

"I know as much about you as you let me know." Naruto replied carefully. "You choose what you share, so I only know as much as you choose for me to know. That's not really the same thing."

Sasuke smirked. "It's nice to know you think I have that much control over myself when I am around you. I'm usually careful around everyone. With you, sometimes being careful doesn't always work."

Alright so maybe they were sharing a little. It was kinda weird. "I suppose that's sort of flattering. It would have been better though if you didn't feel the need to be careful at all. What's wrong with just being yourself?"

"That is being myself. It's just the way I am. You actually get me to not be my usual self mostly."

"Is that better?" Naruto asked confused.

"It's…singular."

"I'm confused."

"That is distinctly not singular."

"And now you're teasing me again." Naruto glowered.

"I like teasing you. With words and…other ways. I'm happy to give you the choice of whichever one you'd prefer."

Naruto scowled even more. "Why do you say things like that? Why do you like teasing me so much anyway? Why do you like doing anything with me? You don't like me at all. I always thought that you had to like someone to have sex with them. You don't even think of us as friends. But you don't have to like them. You treat it like…entertainment,"

"It is entertaining." Sasuke told him. "You were bored in the temple so then I diverted you and you weren't bored anymore. Doesn't it feel good?"

"That's not the point." Naruto said sourly.

"It is the point. Isn't it good enough to feel pleasure and have fun?"

"It's good but it shouldn't be enough."

"But it is, right? That answers your other question, 'why you?' You do know me better than most people do whether I care to admit it or not. You don't expect things from me that you know I can't give. You accept it and you accept me. Well, most of the time anyway. You might ask questions, you might second guess your own actions but only because of who _you_ are. I suspect you're not doing this to prove your point anymore. At least not totally, because there's more than a small part of you that enjoys what we do and because there's no hardship involved in it you're wondering what your motive is now."

Naruto swallowed. "Okay, assume, maybe, that there is some truth to that. What do you think I should do about it?"

"Nothing." Sasuke replied simply. "Why bother to overanalyze it. Just accept what is in front of you, do what makes sense to you at the time. You can't get too involved because you don't know what might happen in the future. It was three months before we happened upon one another this time, Next time it could be years. Why bother yourself over it too much?"

It was a simplistic way of looking at things, but he made a good point. Live in the now and accept things for what they were. Well, he already lived most of his life that way anyhow, it should be easy enough to do.

Naruto thought it over for a moment. He still wondered about a few things though. "If you came back to the village and we saw each other every day, would you still want this," Naruto wondered aloud. "We would see each other every day and have a real bed for once with sheets and pillows instead of dirt and stone. But would it be the same. Would you even like that? Would I?"

When Sasuke didn't respond Naruto looked over to see him scowling down at the grass in front of him. At first he thought he'd made Sasuke angry by bringing up the village again but this was apparently not the case.

"It wouldn't suck."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What if I could promise you that? If you came back you could have whatever you wanted, however you wanted."

"Such ego," Sasuke scoffed. "You think I would give up my mission just for a hot fuck?"

Naruto's face reddened at that. "No I guess not. But when you're done with your mission do you think you might want to come back?"

"Like I said, the idea doesn't suck."

It was hardly a definite answer, but he didn't see the point right now of pushing the issue. But…

"Wait did you call me hot before?" Naruto asked.

"I said you were a hot fuck. The fucking is hot, not you."

"I can't even tell if you are being mean or not, Teme."

Sasuke gave him that arrogant little half smile. "Just because I meant it one way, doesn't necessarily discount the other way either."

"What does that mean?"

"Dobe."

Sasuke didn't seem to feel up to explaining himself and they fell into silence for a few moments.

"I think they're asleep now. Should we escape?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

It took barely any effort at all to escape their bonds. The idiots only posted one guard for the camp and he was too busy watching out for outside threats than the two apparently well tied prisoners in camp.

Naruto crept up on him and knocked him out while Sasuke went as silently as a ghost through the camp and took back the Orb.

Together they left the camp behind and when Naruto got his bearings, headed back towards the Sun Village.

After only about twenty minutes or so though Sasuke stumbled a little almost falling. The only thing that stopped him from dropping was Naruto grabbing his shoulder and steadying him.

After a moment of standing still Sasuke brushed his hand away and turned to begin running again without comment. Naruto just shrugged and started off after him. It lasted only about ten more minutes and in this instance Naruto wasn't close enough to stop the fall and Sasuke pitched forward. He was already starting to get to his feet when Naruto stopped beside him with a concerned look. Naruto grabbed his arm to help him up and Sasuke brushed him off again but this time he turned his head to glare fiercely at him too.

Now Naruto had been on the receiving end of Sasuke's glares before and this one lacked the heat he was used to. And now that he'd had a chance to see his face Naruto noticed how flushed he looked, how sweaty and out of breath.

"What's wrong with you?"

Sasuke turned his face away and got fully to his feet. He swayed a little and Naruto grabbed his shoulders and steadied him. He could tell Sasuke was about to try and get rid of him again so Naruto redoubled his grip.

"Seriously, you were fine back in camp. What happened?"

Sasuke looked up a little but he seemed so exhausted that even that was an effort. He was still trying to glare, and didn't seem about to answer.

"Sasuke,"

Sasuke blew out a breath of air and glared some more. "I was fine back in camp, but I was resting. I don't know what that light attack was in the temple but it did something to me."

Of course Sasuke was probably using his Sharingan when the attack had happened but he'd been using it back in camp so Naruto assumed at the time that no damage had been done. Obviously that wasn't really the case.

"What did it do?"

"It's alright for you, you slept it off. I couldn't, I woke up just after they tied us. My head feels like it's about to explode as soon as I try to run. I don't know what's happening, but something is wrong."

"Um, normally I'd tell you to take a break and sit down but we probably have at least a dozen pissed off ninja after us by now."

"You think I don't know that?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "I'll carry you," he decided.

"No."

"Fine," Naruto let go and turned away. "Start running then."

He walked a few paces and looked back. Sasuke was still standing in the same place, still trying to glare, but hadn't moved one step. He was trying to make it look like there wasn't anything wrong and he was fine. Except for the part where he still wasn't moving.

There was a small part of Naruto that wanted to just take the Orb back and leave him here. Sasuke was being stubborn, prideful and was really beginning to piss him off. A larger part of him just couldn't leave him behind.

He stalked back, turned his back to Sasuke and went down on one knee. "Climb on."

"Where have I heard that before?"

"You ever wanna hear it again? Get on, I'll carry you."

"I'll take my chances with the ninja. I'm not asking you to hang around. We're out of the temple, we can go our separate ways now."

Naruto turned and drove his shoulder into Sasuke's midsection doubling him over his shoulder and hoisted him up. Sasuke either couldn't or didn't stop him and Naruto set off again.

It was going to be a while before they got back to the village. The Rain ninja had traveled many hours away from the temple carrying the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto probably taking turns carrying them in order to keep traveling as fast as possible. After all they had the Orb and they were heading home and there was no reason to dawdle in enemy territory any longer. Naruto didn't have the luxury of passing carrying duties off to anyone else and while he was still strong and fit, the pure fact of it was that he was traveling at half speed after already carrying Sasuke for an hour and was only going to slow down further the longer he went without rest. The night was starting to give way to the first sign of light when he forced himself to stop for a while to catch his breath and drink some water from a nearby stream.

There was no easy way to put Sasuke down because at some point during their travels, Sasuke had passed out. He woke up as Naruto unceremoniously plopped him down onto his butt underneath a nearby tree. He'd tried to make it gentle, but it was still enough to wake the sleeping ninja.

Sasuke blinked a few times in the pre-dawn light and said, "Ow."

"You're welcome," Naruto replied harshly.

"Whatever. I told you not to, you're the one who wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Yeah, sure. Carry you or leave you to die. That's not a lot of options."

"Two is enough. Why bring me along anyway? We aren't allies anymore, we should have gone our separate ways the moment we left the camp."

Naruto knelt down by the stream and splashed some water on his face. "The Sun Village is our best bet. It's the closest place where the Rain ninja won't come after us. Besides," Naruto added quietly, "you still have the orb."

Sasuke snorted, "I see."

"Don't say that like you know it's the only reason. You were so weak back there I could have taken it back and you know it."

"Hnn."

"Teme, a three year old could've taken the Orb back there and you've been unconscious for almost an hour."

"Whatever. How much farther?"

Naruto came and sat down beside Sasuke and leant back against the tree. "If we could both run we'd be there in about an hour. It's not real far now. But if I gotta carry you…"

"I can walk. If there were anyone after us they would have caught up to us by now," Sasuke told him simply. "We can afford to slow down a little. Besides, I feel a lot stronger now."

He didn't look a lot stronger as far as Naruto was concerned. Even after being carried, in the new light Naruto could see deep dark circles under his eyes and he was sitting hunched over like it was too much effort to even sit up straight.

"Alright we can go slow." Naruto grinned, "And if anyone catches up I can protect you."

"I don't need anyone to protect me, least of all you."

That wiped the smile from Naruto's face. "You must hate me a lot."

Sasuke looked over at him with some surprise at the statement. "What, why?"

"That's pretty harsh. I'm a lot stronger now, you don't even know what I can do. But you just say that sort of stuff to be mean to me. You must really hate me."

Sasuke looked away and closed his eyes for a moment. "Hate is a bit strong. I say what I say, I don't do nice."

"I noticed."

Sasuke smirked at him. "It's not like I really mean it. What's with you anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"You being sullen. Why aren't you ranting at me or trying to tell me how fantastic you are like you usually would?"

"Right, so you can be a jerk again? Yeah, I don't think I'll bother." Naruto grumbled closing his eyes and resting his head back against the tree trunk.

They sat for a few moments in silence before Naruto felt soft touch on his hand. His hand was resting on the ground between them and he could feel the lightest touch of a finger stroke his little finger before he felt Sasuke's finger twine with his. Naruto was too stunned by the random act of uncertain affection to make any kind of movement or sound. It was weird really, Sasuke must have touched close to every part of his body even sometimes with his tongue, but this slight touch seemed altogether move intimate than anything so far. How could that be? Whatever was happening though Naruto didn't want to do anything to disturb this sudden development. He remained unspeaking and unmoving except to coil their fingers ever so slightly but more firmly together.

"Do you know how many people I've told that I trust them?" Sasuke said after a moment more.

"No."

He heard Sasuke sigh. "None."

In Sasuke speak this was as close to a heartfelt apology as Naruto figured he'd ever heard. Knowing that he was the only one that Sasuke trusted was a bit of a mind blower. The fact that Sasuke admitted it to him, actually _shared _it with him was even more of a shock. He made extreme effort to show that what Sasuke had said didn't really impact him too much though. He often found that reacting to things like this with Sasuke was like spooking a horse. If you let him know he'd said something nice, he'd retreat from it and never go there again.

A sudden noise caught Naruto's attention almost too late and he reached out and caught a kunai inches from Sasuke's face. His eyes then snapped open and the pair of them spent a few surprised moments staring at the kunai still tightly gripped in Naruto's hand. Of course the shock only lasted a second and they moved before more thrown kunai could hit them.

Sasuke had moved quickly at first, but he was still slow getting to his feet. Naruto didn't wait for him and took off in the direction of the thrown weapons. When he caught up to the enemy he found only two of them waiting in ambush for him. His lack of forward thinking meant he got hit in the leg with a shuriken but he ignored the pain only stumbling slightly and hit the ninja who'd thrown it hard enough to break the man's jaw. He turned, summoning clones to run at the last ninja while he and another created a Rasengan. By the time the enemy had done away with the clones, Naruto was ready and waiting for him with his attack. The force of the Rasengan took the man off his feet crashing him into the tree behind him. Neither ninja got back to their feet and Naruto went over to check them thinking to restrain them so he and Sasuke could make their escape. But when he checked them over he found that they were both dead. The whole thing had lasted barely a minute and he'd only hit them once each, he couldn't work out what had happened. Sure they weren't the hardest competition he'd ever faced but to hit them _that_ hard…

"Dobe, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you." Sasuke didn't sound very impressed though for some odd reason.

He had followed Naruto to the scene of the fight and was crouched down over Naruto's second victim. He looked up as Naruto came toward him.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

Naruto stopped. "What?"

Sasuke straightened and walked the rest of the way toward him. "You've got fox eyes." He touched the side of Naruto's face and frowned. "And now it's gone."

Naruto hadn't even noticed what had been happening and that was bad. What had triggered it anyway?

"You know", Sasuke continued, "You saving me and running off in a rage to slaughter my would be killers would be terribly romantic if I were say, a woman." Sasuke told him sarcastically.

Sasuke was just being a jerk again and making jokes but Naruto had to wonder if there wasn't some truth to what he said. Someone had ruined their moment and almost killed Sasuke, then he had run off after their attackers and killed them both without thinking. That was taking protective to a whole new and very uncomfortable level.

"I think being in that darkness did some good. Did you see that catch with the kunai?" Naruto asked with false excitement, desperately trying to change the subject. "My eyes were closed but I heard the movement."

Sasuke smirked and leaned in close. "I know it did me some good."

His eyes closed and he waited to feel those cool lips press against his but the kiss never came. He opened his eyes to see Sasuke still smirking at him.

"I think the hero can wait till we get back to the village where we're less likely to be attacked by ninjas, don't you?"

Sasuke started walking off and Naruto watched him go with a perplexed look. Which lasted only a few moments.

"Jerk!" Naruto called after him.

It took them the better part of the day to get back having to walk at such a slower pace. Sasuke looked a lot better now and Naruto was relieved to see that whatever had happened to him had been a temporary setback and he would be fine again soon. It was then, walking down the main street in the village that Naruto realized he was going to have to report in to the monks before finding somewhere to stay for the night. The only problem that remained was that while Sasuke had the Orb, he didn't have anything good to report.

They stopped in front of the most affordable looking hotel in the village and Naruto turned to Sasuke with an unhappy expression.

"Do we have to fight over the Orb now, cause-"

Sasuke stopped him midsentence by taking Naruto's hand and dropping the small Orb into his waiting palm. Once he did that he turned and headed toward the hotel entryway.

"You owe me Dobe. Come find me later."

Ready for a drawn out argument or possible fight with Sasuke, Naruto did nothing but gape at Sasuke's back till the other man had disappeared from sight.

"Oh-kaaaay."

Naruto then turned and headed to the New Temple to report the good news to the monks.

He returned to the hotel and after a few inquires and found Sasuke's room on one of the upper levels. The monks had offered him board, but he had refused stating that he already had a room here. After all, he had a debt to pay.

As soon as he opened the door to the room, he was dragged inside by his jacket and the door kicked closed behind him. Sasuke kept dragging him across the room by his jacket till they got to the center of the room and he was turned and pushed down. His back landed on a spread futon.

Sasuke, dressed only in his pants followed him down, bracing himself up with a hand on either side of Naruto's head. There was that smirk again.

He looked a lot better than before. Apparently the rest had done him good. And apparently made him horny.

"We have a night together in a real bed for once with sheets and pillows instead of dirt and stone. Well, do you like it?"

Sasuke was just teasing him because of what he'd said the night before. Actually Sasuke had repeated to him almost verbatim. Sasuke probably hoped to get a rise out of him about it, but he was about to be disappointed.

"The idea doesn't suck."

Sooner or later they might get annoyed at each other using their own words against them. It seemed to happen a lot. But not tonight. Tonight debts would be settled in comfort. Tonight they needed more than fighting because tonight couldn't last forever and tomorrow it would be time to say goodbye again.

Maybe knowing this was what caused Sasuke to go a little slower than usual, be less brutal and more involved. But Naruto knew that Sasuke shouldn't feel the need to because he shouldn't have cared. So maybe he was only imagining it. Either way, he didn't feel cold as he eventually went to sleep in the early hours of the morning. Sasuke had moved away from him like usual, but he still had a loose hold of his hand, fingers only just touching. That little contact was enough to make Naruto feel warm.

Today Sai was coming so Naruto gathered together all his belongings and made ready to leave. Sasuke was still sleeping and Naruto was wondering whether to wake him up or not. He decided he wouldn't, why bother? It wasn't like there was going to be some sort of heartfelt goodbye he would miss out on. Sasuke would probably just say something mean, or try to tempt one more fuck out of him. Like he said before, Sasuke was unpredictable like that. Naruto could do without either today. He didn't feel like taking the verbal abuse for one thing. If Sasuke tried the other well, the monks knew where he was staying and if Sai arrived early, he might decide to come find Naruto and then he would see something he really didn't need to see, And just saying 'no' to Sasuke would never work. Naruto knew that he wouldn't be able to.

He did find himself just sitting and watching Sasuke sleep for a little while though which was an odd thing to do. He'd spend two intense days in darkness with him, he guessed he just liked being able to see him fully again. He kept telling himself that it wasn't because he liked looking at Sasuke. They were friends more or less, but he wondered that if that was all there was to it, why then was he sitting here, admiring the way he looked, calm, relaxed and beautiful in a way that he never looked while he was awake? It was probably stretching the definition of friendship a little far. Was it that he liked him more than just a friend?

Finally he had to speculate whether that would be such a bad thing if he did. Surely he couldn't feel bad about sleeping with someone he really cared about. Really it should disturb him more if he didn't care. Ordinary friends didn't do the things they did together. But no matter what reason he gave himself to think that it would be alright to feel something more for him, he just couldn't get himself to admit that he did in the end.

It might have had something to do with knowing that Sasuke would never feel the same way, that he was protecting himself from feelings that would never be reciprocated. Sasuke would probably laugh at him if he even had an inkling that Naruto was even thinking about it.

After a while he got up and grabbed his pack. He might as well leave now while he had the chance. He managed to find a few more procrastinations to do around the room but eventually he did leave without one single backwards glance.

When Sasuke heard the door bump shut behind Naruto, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while. He'd been awake the whole time but hadn't let on. He hadn't wanted to say goodbye. Or rather he had, but he knew he shouldn't. He would have kissed him and he would have known that it might have been the last time and then he might have said something very stupid.

He might have admitted to something he didn't want to think about.

Naruto might have wanted Sasuke to come back. He might have wanted Sasuke to want to come back like he said. But Sasuke felt that if this kept going on he might soon _need_ to. And until Naruto needed him too, his feelings could be kept to himself.

The End... Probably...

* * *

_Notes:_

_And so we come to the end. I realize I wrapped it up a little quickly but I like the ending being a little sweet but not too soppy.. I know it probably isn't enough of an ending either and I haven't decided whether to end it with this fic or not. Either way I'm gonna take a bit of a break and see what happens. But I just hope it eased your boredom every now and then by reading and I hope you all enjoyed it!_

_Thanks for all the reviews and fav story picks from everyone I really appreciate it._

_Also special thanks to Kashana my beta for sorting through my intensely bad grammar and spelling to make readable chapters - you're so awesome._

_Later,_

_Dash._


	5. I'd Love You To Love You  Preview

**This new story is now posted and can be reached via my profile. Enjoy!**

I'd Love You To Love To

Preview

Sasuke was sick of pacing so he stopped for a moment and tried to gauge how much daylight was left by how much light he could still see through the leaves above.

Not much, the sky was fading to a sort of yellowy orange already. That meant that he'd been out here pacing for the better part of an hour now. Maybe his message hadn't gotten through, maybe he wasn't there to even receive the message. Sure he'd sent that message a couple of days ago, but he could have left for a mission before that and therefore been none the wiser.

Sasuke just couldn't wait here much longer. It was very dangerous for him to be here. If someone saw him his life would be over.

Of course if he was going to be completely honest with himself, he had to admit that his lack of patience with the situation wasn't because he was risking his life and freedom. He was just impatient because he'd been looking forward to this for a whole week and now that the waiting was over he had no patience to wait even an hour longer.

He started pacing again.

"You'll wear a groove in the dirt if you keep pacing like you're pissed off with the ground or something."

Could he have been so introspective that he simply hadn't heard or sensed the other ninja sneak up on him? It was entirely possible. But then again, it was also entirely possible that he was underestimating the other ninja.

Despite his relief that the wait was over, despite all his other feelings, he glared at Naruto in such a vile way that far older and more experienced ninja had been reduced to word stammering terror by that look from Sasuke. Naruto knew better than to he fazed by it though and just grinned one of those big goofy smiles at him.

"So sour, Sasuke? I didn't expect chocolates and flowers but that stare isn't exactly the warm welcome I had imagined."

Sasuke took a few moments to look Naruto over. He hadn't really come dressed for a long outing. A black t-shirt, his usual orange pants and that was about it. He didn't even have his headband on. It was just like he'd stepped out of his apartment to go down to the shops or something. Which really had pretty much been the case minus the shops part. They were so close to Konoha here that Sasuke could swear he could smell Ichiraku's. It was possible though that the smell was coming from Naruto. Naruto's overall appearance and smell made Sasuke remember what Naruto had said to him previously as it always did when he met up with Naruto this close to the village – which had become all too often lately – that it would be good if Sasuke returned. They could see each other every day, every night. He could see Naruto like this, casual, not dressed for battle and smell not of dirt and traveling but of his favorite food and whatever soap he had used on himself that morning. It always surprised him how he felt about that particular temptation. Knowing what he was missing out on made him feel a little hollow.

Naruto was leaning up against a tree watching Sasuke watch him like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Until Sasuke moved then he saw that familiar look of anticipation cross his features. Sasuke walked right up to him, backing him into the tree he was standing against and kissed him roughly.

He wasted very little time on visits like this, every moment he was here put them both in very real danger, which was a pity in a way. He wanted to take his time, wanted to spend time with him afterwards, but the location made it impossible. And besides, he'd been waiting so long now, merely having a casual chat with him just wasn't going to cut it. He needed him, now.

He only let loose Naruto's lips when he needed to rid him of that t-shirt and his own shirt while he was at it.

"This is more what I expected," Naruto informed him.

He really should know by now what to expect on these visits. It had happened all too frequently lately. The last time had only been a fortnight ago.

It had been four months since the Land of the Sun give or take a week or so. And after they'd parted ways there it had been only a month before they had run into one another again. It was almost funny. Naruto had told him how hard it had been to find him before, now it seemed like the universe just couldn't keep them apart.

To be continued…

* * *

_What can I say but massive thanks for all the reviews I got with the last chapter. There were a few of you that wanted me to continue in order to finish off the series a little better so I happily caved and here is the beginning of the next and third episode in this little series. I really appreciate how many of you wanted a continuation so much that I could hardly leave you all hanging now could I? *grins*_

_Okay so this is a lot shorter than the last preview, but I gotta give you something to look forward to right? The new fic when it is posted will be started as a new fic titled 'I'd Love You To Love To' so you'll have to either author alert me or check out my profile page to see when it comes out. No more will be posted with this fic. I say this now because I still get Story Alerts come up for 'I Want You To Want To' and that was finished ages ago. So Story Alerts will not get you new chapters here folks just so you know. Author Alert me, check the profile page from time to time or you can e-mail me if you aren't a member and I'll put you on my email alert list (I've had a few requests for this already). I'll try to get it out soon, but I have some stuff coming up that might delay postings so it might take a month or so to restart, just sos you know._

_Anyway, look out for the next fic peoples, and don't forget to tell me if you like the beginning._

_Hugs all,_

_Dash._


	6. Alternate Chapter 1  Sasuke's POV

_**VERY ****IMPORTANT:** Hi everyone, this is **not** a continuation of 'I Need You To Need To'. That's important. This **alternate version of the same story** was written because of a request by Jiraiya-Ill Come Back-Tsunade who wanted to know what was going on from Sasuke's point of view during 'I Need You To Need To'. So basically it will be the same story, I won't change anything that happens except it will be told from Sasuke's POV instead of the original version from Naruto's POV._

_Just to let everyone know this isn't necessary reading from a storyline perspective. You **do ****not ****have ****to ****read ****this ****to ****read ****the ****next ****instalment** 'I'd Love You To Love To'. This is only a bit of fun and nothing more and mainly meant for those who have already completed the series._

_Oh and btw, this has not been gone over by my usual beta. I thought I'd give her a break so I hope there are not too many mistakes…_

_Please Enjoy!_

_Dash_

* * *

**I Need You To Need To**

**Chapter 1**

**Sasuke's POV.**

Sasuke didn't know what to do about this new development. Sure he had thought that the monks might realise ninja were trying to steal the orb, but he hadn't thought that they might employ the Leaf Village to retrieve the orb for them. Of course it made sense to send a ninja in after it when there were other ninja around, but who would have ever thought that the village would send Naruto of all people. Stealth, traps and mazes weren't exactly Naruto's strong points. Well they hadn't been when the pair were in team seven together and Sasuke doubted very much that had changed in any way. And further considering the current state of things and people wanting to capture the Kyuubi, Sasuke was doubly surprised to not only find Naruto out on mission, but to find him alone too.

He briefly wondered if this might be a set up. The situation seemed too unlikely to be taken at face value. It was possible someone had seen him out here in the forest and told the Leaf about it. After all, he'd been out here for almost a week trying to drive the Rain ninja out of the area before he entered the temple itself. And now, on the day he was about to head in, here was Naruto and only Naruto going into the temple on a mission wholly unsuited to him.

But Sasuke was nothing if not thorough, he was confident that no one else was here and that Naruto had no backup. So if this was a set up it was just Naruto working alone and that wasn't such a bad thing.

It would be just like before. Naruto would argue with him for a while, make an attempt to try and get him to return to the village, Sasuke would refuse and sure they might fight this time, but in the temple Sasuke knew he'd have the upper hand. Sure he was confident even in the daylight one on one that Naruto couldn't take him, but in the dark temple he'd have even less of a chance.

Sasuke had watched Naruto enter the temple a few minutes ago now and he found himself growing fidgety while he squatted on a tree branch in a tall tree overlooking the entrance. Sasuke wasn't a fidgeter. He made no movement that wasn't necessary to whatever he was doing. He could watch his prey for hours and not move a muscle. But he found himself tapping the tree trunk beside him with his fingertips and flexing his toes in his sandals as though his body wanted to move on already.

His last encounter with Naruto had left him a little cold. Not that the encounter itself was a bad thing really, but the aftermath had left him feeling a little hollow and incomplete. It wasn't an emotional attachment of course, that would be stupid, but it was definitely a physical attachment. Even days after the encounter he could still feel on his fingertips the sensation of them gliding across skin. He could still taste him, feel him and not being able to simply experience it again had made him feel despondent. It was just a physical loss though and something that had faded with time. But now presented with the opportunity to do it all over again his body was obviously impatient to get things started.

Sasuke grinned to himself and shook his head. How sad was he? He could have anyone he wanted practically and here he was thinking about someone like Naruto for pleasure. But Naruto was fun in a way. He was very devoted sure, but Naruto was trickier than most people to be with and that appealed to Sasuke. He was tricky because although Naruto would apparently do anything to get Sasuke to come home, he also wouldn't put up with his shit and if Sasuke handled this wrong, his body would continue to be left wanting for some time to come. He wasn't exactly a challenge to get, but might be a challenge to keep interested once he understood what Sasuke wanted from him.

He didn't want complication, he wanted release. He most certainly didn't want to return to the village and nothing Naruto could do or offer him would make him change his mind. So understanding this, would Naruto continue what he'd started when they'd last met or would he be resistant? Sasuke had never been so unsure about another person's desire for him before and that made him even more eager to find out what Naruto would do.

So with determination, Sasuke jumped from the branch and entered the temple. It took very little time to catch up to Naruto. He was only about a quarter of the way in and moving slowly because of the darkness. Sasuke didn't have such a problem though. With his Sharingan he could practically see in the dark and he enjoyed the sensation of power watching Naruto slowly work his way along not knowing that Sasuke had his eyes glued to him the entire time. His vision wasn't detail perfect though and he soon realised that Naruto had far better knowledge of the traps than Sasuke did even with his sight. But Sasuke had reflexes that Naruto didn't and he would have been able to get through almost with that alone. But he did see a lot of the traps and silently watched somewhat impressed as Naruto negotiated his way through every one of them without fault.

He'd suppressed his chakra so much that Naruto would not be able to detect it but he almost gave himself away halfway through the maze when it seemed like Naruto was about to set a trap off. Sasuke stepped forward quickly only to see Naruto step aside at the last second, but the noise he'd inadvertently made obviously distracted Naruto and the ninja didn't step quite far enough to evade the floor trigger and set it off. Sasuke was about to rush forward when he saw Naruto throw himself forward as a pit opened up beneath him, catching the opposite side of the pit before he could fall.

Sasuke hadn't realised it but he'd been holding his breath. He let it out now slowly and silently before walking up to the edge of the pit to see Naruto trying to pull himself up on the other side. Sasuke jumped over the hole and landed quietly on the opposite side. Taking a kunai out of his pouch he knelt and jammed it in between the floor stones and stepped back just as a groping hand came out of the pit and felt around for a moment before latching on the blade. Using the wedged blade, Naruto pulled himself out of the pit and sat on the floor for a moment catching his breath before getting back to his feet and moving on.

Sasuke flattened himself against the wall as Naruto walked past him not inches away and fought a surprising temptation to reach out and touch him as he walked past. Eventually Naruto would know he was here, but after seeing Naruto's deft navigation so far he figured he might as well follow him and use Naruto's knowledge to get them both through. Sasuke was good, but he hadn't received the kind of instructions Naruto obviously had. He didn't want to stumble into a trap he couldn't defeat with eyesight and reflexes alone and didn't even have to risk doing so now that he seemed to have picked himself up an unwitting guide. Naruto could take him right to the orb so Sasuke decided to keep him in the dark for as long as it took to get to his goal.

Of course after that happened he wasn't sure what he would do. He pondered this as he followed Naruto along. He could just kill him and take the orb. That would be simple. Of course, he could just take the orb and disabled him which seemed like a better plan.

The Akatsuki needed Naruto alive for the moment and besides, he had no real need to kill Naruto. He might have disagreed with himself sixth months ago, but after what had happened between them even Sasuke couldn't think up a compelling enough reason to want him dead. Naruto wasn't hurting him or his plans and now it seemed like there was even some fun to be had by keeping him around. At least for the moment.

It was a little voyeuristic to him to watch someone while they weren't aware of you, but Sasuke was enjoying it. He hadn't realised Naruto had it in him to work through the traps like this blind as he was. And Sasuke found himself watching Naruto intently as his body reacted to his surroundings, the fluid movements the way his body moved around and out of harm's way. Sasuke felt his fingers twitching again and just wanted to reach the orb and get it over with.

Finally they reached the last room and Sasuke stayed back while Naruto wound his way through the spear traps till he reached the pedestal at the end of the room where the orb was sitting.

Experimentally, he moved in after him noticing that now that Naruto had set the trap off it didn't seem to reset right away and Sasuke was able to walk across the room unhindered toward Naruto's back.

Naruto was just about to lay his hand on the orb when Sasuke grabbed his shoulder, turning him and shoved him backwards. Naruto had obviously been taken by surprise and stumbled into the side wall of the chamber roughly.

Sasuke followed him though, finally giving in to what he'd wanted to do since seeing him outside the temple and had been made worse watching him silently in the darkness. He stepped up to his prey, grabbed the side of his face and his hip to keep both his head and body still before he kissed him so roughly he forced Naruto's head back into the wall behind him.

He kissed him for a good long while, forcing his tongue past shocked lips and losing himself for a moment. The anticipation had worked him up more than he'd thought and it was a while before he let up and let Naruto breathe properly again.

"Sasuke…?" Naruto whispered.

There was a surprising amount of relief when he heard the question. Obviously Naruto hadn't forgotten his touch either and even more obviously it was only Sasuke that seemed to have the privilege of tongue molesting him out of nowhere.

"You'd better hope so," Sasuke replied mockingly noting the big smile that spread across Naruto's face when he heard Sasuke's voice. "What would you have done if I'd said 'no'?"

"Kicked your ass, stole the orb and gone home for a shower. A long one."

So Sasuke assumed that the answer coupled with the smile meant that his touch wasn't an unwelcome one. Sasuke smirked.

"And now you know?"

Sasuke watched as Naruto raised his hand slowly toward his face. His fingertips tracing over his cheek down to Sasuke's lips apparently locating them before leaning in and kissing him back. It was a little less brutal than before and Sasuke didn't even hesitate to respond. The kiss deepened and he felt a tongue slide across his. Sasuke felt an arm curl around him drawing their bodies closer together.

Sasuke broke the kiss first and used the hand on Naruto's face to tip his head to the side so he could kiss his way up the jaw line till he got to Naruto's ear where he bit the earlobe none to gently.

"Are you still pretending?"

He didn't know why he'd asked at first, but obviously their last conversation was still bothering him. Sasuke wasn't used to people not wanting him, pretending to want him was an alien concept and he needed to know whether that's what Naruto was doing now. He didn't want that, for once in his life he wanted someone to want him. It was all part of that challenge he supposed.

"Well?" Sasuke continued, his confidence slipping just a little when Naruto didn't respond. "Tell the truth."

"Does it matter?" Naruto asked eventually obviously a little taken back.

"Maybe I just wanted to hear you say it," Sasuke told him before running his lips up Naruto's warm neck.

Sasuke had always enjoyed a good challenge and if Naruto didn't want him for real now, he'd sure as hell tease him so much that he would be begging for it in a few minutes.

"I was never pretending, Sasuke."

Interesting and not the answer he'd expected. It pleased him to hear it, but he had to know the real deal here.

"Are you forcing yourself to let me do this?"

"No. Stop asking so many questions!"

Sasuke smiled against his neck at the sound of edginess in Naruto's voice. Apparently his teasing was working.

"Is that impatience that I hear?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

"Do you really want to talk about it, here and now?"

Just after Naruto said that he seemed to go a little quiet and still which was a weird reaction to say the lease.

"You're here for the orb aren't you?" Naruto asked him quietly.

Whoops. Oh right, _that_ small problem. Not for the first time in his life Sasuke wished he hadn't acted without thinking things through properly.

* * *

_This one was shorter than the original chapter but the others will be just as long. I wonder, are people finding this tedious because you've already read it before? I thought it might be, but hey, a request is a request and I'm happy to do it._

_Cheers,_

_Dash._


	7. Alternate Chapter 2  Sasuke's POV

**I Need You To Need To**

**Chapter 2**

**Sasuke's POV.**

Sasuke stilled very quickly upon hearing that last question, _really_ whishing he'd thought things through a little better before giving into temptation to just slam Naruto up against a wall and grope his old friend in the darkness. He'd almost completely forgotten about the mission which was unlike him to say the least.

Damnit, this was why he didn't want complications with people, they were distractions. At least this was a nice distraction. Well it had been until Naruto roughly pushed him away and stepped away from the wall. Sasuke didn't try to grab him again and Naruto didn't seem to be readying himself for a fight. Even Naruto must realise his disadvantage here.

"I thought you might have figured that out before now. Did you think I was just here for a chance to grope you in the darkness?" Sasuke mocked him. Mocking Naruto always made him feel better about screwing up, it was apparently something he'd never grown out of since they were children.

The look on Naruto's face though seemed to tell Sasuke that Naruto had really hoped that had been the case and that made him smirk at the blinded ninja.

"Of course not," Naruto lied. "I just didn't think Granny Tsunade would have sent me out here if she thought you might show up, that's all."

"Oh? Does she think I'm a bad influence or something?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

"Maybe more of a distracting influence," Naruto replied carefully.

Well at least he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"I'll take that as a compliment. But it wasn't like I expected to find you here, that was a surprise. I didn't realise the Fire Country wanted the Orb as well."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked confused.

Sasuke sighed, he couldn't believe they'd sent one of their most important ninja on a mission without having the least bit of intelligence on the situation. It annoyed Sasuke to hear Naruto's confusion.

"How do you even function with that brain of yours, dobe? Rain Country ninja are the ones trying to steal the Orb or didn't your pitiful village intelligence work that one out before they sent you here?"

"We were hired by the temple keepers to take the Orb out of here and keep it safe."

Well that explained the rush to get the orb. Obviously the monks had noticed enemy ninja and were concerned for the orb's safety. But something about it still bothered him.

"Oh? So why aren't the monks in here getting the Orb for you?"

"The entire temple is trapped and in complete darkness in case you didn't notice," Naruto said defensively, "Not even the monks can retrieve the Orb, the knowledge on how to defeat the traps is lost to them."

"Uh huh. So you were sent to come into the darkness, past the traps and grab the Orb, I see. This mission relies on stealth, patience and navigating in the dark and she sent…you. Your Hokage has become senile then?"

Naruto was obviously angry at the implication that he wasn't fit enough for the job but he seemed to be trying to control his anger. Apparently Sasuke had hit a nerve.

"Well I got past it all didn't I?"

This was true, and very admirably considering he wasn't really suited to this kind of a mission. But Sasuke wasn't about to agree with him. He might as well get some enjoyment out of bursting Naruto's smug little bubble.

"Not yet. I could take the Orb right now and leave you to fend for yourself in the darkness if I wanted to."

Sasuke didn't realise or understand how much of a threat that must have been till he saw a little trace of panic cross Naruto's face.

"Why do you even want the Orb? It's a whether control device, it's not a doomsday machine. What could you possibly want with it?"

"Actually the same reason you want it. To stop the Rain ninjas from getting it," Sasuke told him, which was all true, just not the whole truth.

"That's all?" Naruto asked with surprise. "Then we're not enemies. Look Sasuke, if I take the Orb, I can keep it away from them."

"I didn't say I didn't want the Orb. It's a powerful artefact. I just happen to not want the Rain ninja to get it as well."

"So you're going to take it and leave me here," Naruto muttered in a kind of morose resignation.

"I'm thinking about it," Sasuke told him in annoyance.

Naruto snorted at the response. "I would've been able to get out of here if you hadn't taken me off my path," he muttered. "A moment ago you were pushing me up against a wall kissing me and now you're considering leaving me to possibly die. And you said I was ambivalent!"

"Ah, so you do know what the word means."

"I'm not so stupid you know," Naruto told him, but Sasuke doubted that.

So now he was left with a decision to make. A few moments ago all he'd wanted to do was to have a quick fuck up against the wall and leave with the orb and now after a few moments of arguing he wasn't entirely sure he didn't want to leave Naruto alone to suffer by himself.

He still wanted that fuck though.

But physical fun aside, he couldn't just leave him here. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Naruto in this situation. And besides, if the Rain ninja came back, Naruto would probably be at their mercy by then and having Naruto captured was not a good plan.

"Fine. Come here."

Naruto had probably known where Sasuke was by listening to the sound of his voice. He knew the direction but not the distance and Sasuke had to grab his arm before Naruto walked right into him. Sasuke let his hand trail down till he could grab Naruto's hand instead.

"This way, and try to step where I step."

"I can't see anything," Naruto complained. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Sasuke sighed very deeply. "Just how did you make it this far? And how were you planning to get back out again?"

"I had it all planned out," Naruto told him defensively. "I had it all memorised, but you had to go and distract me."

Sasuke grinned a little at the reminder of the distraction. "Was it worth it?"

"That depends on whether I make it out of here or not," Naruto answered rather coldly. But the little hesitation, the little almost unheard lilt in his voice made Sasuke believe he was lying.

Sasuke started walking, towing Naruto behind him like a lost child at a fair. "I'm stung," Sasuke replied in feigned hurt. "What if I had done more than just kiss you?"

He could almost hear the mental grinding accompanying that little reminder as Naruto's imagination went into overdrive.

"Worth potentially dying down here? No, get real."

He was lying again, it was almost cute. Sasuke chuckled.

"I think I may have actually heard you lie to me."

"And that tickles your funny bone?" Naruto asked with obvious rancour.

"You're not a liar by nature and you're pretty bad at it. Actually knowing that you just lied and what you lied about just tickled something else. But I suppose that can wait."

Yes, that's right, feed the imagination. Get him so wound up in anticipation that he begs for you to touch him, just like everyone else does.

Really he shouldn't have expected to be able to take him again so easily. Naruto didn't exactly play hard to get but it was obvious that being with Sasuke didn't occupy his thoughts as much as Sasuke felt it should. A niggling little matter like being able to complete his mission was foremost on Naruto's mind whereas if he had been someone like Sakura or Ino or any other number of people who swooned over him, they'd have just forgotten about the orb entirely if he'd kissed them.

But not Naruto. It was probably some duty or honour thing for him, but Sasuke was determined that Naruto might gain some insight once he'd had a chance to tease him a little more. Of course, that meant getting out of here first.

Sasuke stopped after a few moments and let go of his hand. He'd seen the orb on the ground by the pedestal where it must have fallen after he'd grabbed Naruto. He slipped the palm sized orb into his pouch and straightened up, fingertips brushing Naruto's palm to prompt him to hold on again. Naruto did and Sasuke started to lead the way back out.

Naruto's steps got a little more sure after that and Sasuke realised that Naruto must have picked up where he'd left off on his memorised path. He didn't let go of Sasuke's hand though and actually seemed to be holding it a little tighter than necessary. It wasn't a bad feeling though and Naruto seemed to be enjoying the contact so Sasuke didn't point out that he realised Naruto was back on track and could continue without assistance.

Halfway down the tunnel outside the pedestal room Sasuke got a small sense of something. Someone who was very badly trying to suppress their chakra was close by somewhere in the temple. He stopped in his tracks, wanting to get a better read on it but Naruto who hadn't realised he'd stopped ran into the back of him. Naruto instinctively grabbed Sasuke's shoulder but not before he'd caused the other man to take an involuntary step forward. In a place like this, that wasn't a good thing.

"Dobe, watch where you're going," Sasuke hissed.

"I can't Sasuke. I can't see, remember."

"Whatever. Now be quiet."

Naruto obediently shut his mouth…for about thirty seconds.

"Sasuke, I don't-"

"Shhhhh."

Just after Sasuke had hushed him he heard a couple of people talking. They were still a ways off, maybe three rooms away, but they were coming closer. It seemed they were taking great pains to hide their chakra but apparently one of them wasn't real good at it. The fact that they were talking quite loudly too wasn't helping them either.

Sasuke strained his eyes to search out a way of escape. As far as he knew there was only one way out and that was where the voices were coming from. Then he caught sight of a well concealed door and figured that if they couldn't escape, they might as well hide.

"You've seen a map of this place, yes?" Sasuke asked him in a whisper.

"Yes."

"I can see a concealed door about halfway up the corridor. Is that room safe, can you remember?"

Naruto was silent for a few moments while he apparently searched his brain for the answer. The voices were getting closer though and Sasuke was trying very hard not to abuse Naruto for his slow brain.

"It used to be an ancient holding room, I think."

Naruto hadn't sounded real sure about that and he debated whether or not to trust Naruto's memory. But really, what choice did they have?

"We'll risk it."

He dragged Naruto over to the door, carefully disarming the trap connected to the door and opening it up. When it was open, Sasuke pushed Naruto in ahead of him and then Sasuke entered, closing the door behind him as quietly as possible.

Even through the stone, Sasuke could still hear them talking as they passed by not a few moments later. It was muffled though and he could only just barely make out the words. Evidently there must have been some sort of ventilation holes high up in the walls allowing them to hear the voices more clearly than they otherwise would have been able to.

Both he and Naruto had been masking their own chakra since entering the temple so unless they found the door and came looking, the pair of them would be safe enough in here till the other ninja left.

Sasuke took this opportunity to walk around and get a sense of where they were. Even with his eyes he still had to get pretty close to things to see much detail so he spent a few moments exploring.

"What do you see?" Naruto asked him after a few moments.

At least he'd waited for the other ninja to pass by before speaking.

Sasuke turned and looked at Naruto. "A blind dobe in a room."

"Teme, c'mon."

Sasuke sighed. "It's more like a torture chamber than a holding room. Whatever these monks were in ancient times, they were serious about discouraging thieves. There's wall shackles, a few rusty tools, a workbench and a few other unimportant things."

"You said it looked like a hidden door when we came in, d'you think they'll find it?"

"I only saw it because of my Sharingan. So unless they can sense hidden things or see through walls we should be hidden well enough."

/"We can't find the Orb."/

Sasuke saw Naruto flinch with the voice. It was coming from the corridor outside and whoever it was must have been standing right underneath one of the ventilation holes. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke had heard them coming which was a little disturbing.

/"It must be here."/

/"It's possible it is in another room or fallen off the pedestal and rolled elsewhere but we can't search in this darkness."/

/"At least we've disabled the traps. But it's still going to take some searching. We'll have to wait till we can dispel the jutsus and lift the darkness before we can search properly. That means we have to wait for Masu. I don't want to take the chance that it's still here and we've missed it so I'm going to leave the bulk of the men here to watch the place. You take two others to meet up with Masu. It shouldn't take him more than two days to get here."/

/"Yes Sir."/

/"Yes."/

/"Of course."/

From what Sasuke could tell there had been at least four different voices in that conversation and by the sound of it there were a lot more that must be spread out around the temple. So maybe hiding wasn't such a bad option. But now it looked as though they might be stuck here for two days. More if it took the ninja a long time to search before giving up and going home.

When the voices had retreated again Naruto spoke up.

"Two days? Sasuke, even if there're ten of them we can still take them. Why are we waiting?"

It wasn't something he hadn't thought about himself. "Normally I would agree with you. But all it would take would be three of them to be any good and we risk losing the Orb. It isn't worth it."

"I say it's worth the risk."

"Then, by all means, go get yourself killed. I would prefer to assure the mission is carried out," Sasuke replied testily.

He sat down against the back wall and watched as Naruto moved closer to him, arms stretched out in front of him as though to avoid a collision with anything painful. When he got closer Sasuke grabbed his ankle to stop him running into the wall.

"Sit down before you hurt yourself. Or me."

Naruto sat down in front of him looking into a patch of darkness where Naruto must assume his face was. He was pretty close but he was more staring at Sasuke's left ear than his actual face. It was a little disturbing actually and besides, Sasuke's eyes were beginning to hurt so he let his Sharingan fade for the moment to let his eyes rest.

He didn't like not being able to see though. Not only did it rob him of a certain amount of control, but it made him a little claustrophobic when he could no longer see the size of the room or anything else for that matter. He could hear Naruto breathing which was surprisingly reassuring and he further closed his eyes to ease the cramped feeling he was getting. He hadn't always suffered from mild claustrophobia only in the last few years or so. Being sealed up in a coffin while his body changed, being underground a lot in Orochimaru's various hideouts, all of it had probably done it to him. He didn't like being underground and he definitely did not like being in the dark.

"Sasuke-"

"Shut up, dobe."

He heard Naruto sigh. But at least he obeyed. For a whole ten minutes too.

"At least tell me what the room looks like more."

"I need to rest my eyes so I stopped using the Sharingan. I can't see at the moment."

"Sasuke-"

"If you say my name one more time I will silence you myself," Sasuke snapped.

"You wouldn't hit someone who was blind, would you?"

Naruto didn't sound appalled. Actually he sounded like he was joking which eased Sasuke's foul mood a bit. He didn't realise it at first but when Naruto was talking he didn't think about being underground and not being able to see.

"Normally no, but I may make an exception for you. Besides, there are other ways to silence you than hitting you."

And there was the challenge. Now that he was easing up from feeling closed in so much, his mind went over other things about their situation. They might be stuck here for a while with nothing but each other, the darkness and the small amount of food and water they had with them. Naruto had the attention span of a goldfish and was probably already bored and Sasuke was in desperate need of chilling and not thinking.

And besides, he wanted this didn't he? He'd wanted another chance to feel, touch and taste and this was a pretty good opportunity. But it was time to see whether Naruto would be the one to well, not instigate so much, but encourage him. Just a small offering of want or compliance and Sasuke figured he'd fuck him till he couldn't walk anymore.

"Sasuke."

A doorknob could have understood what Sasuke had implied when he'd challenged Naruto to say his name again and Naruto was at least slightly more intelligent than that so Sasuke figured it counted as encouragement.

Luckily for Sasuke he remembered well enough where Naruto had been sitting before he'd blinded himself so with a palm flat on Naruto's chest, he pushed him backwards onto the ground and climbed over him, silencing him with his lips. Sasuke found those waiting lips on his first try and delved his tongue into Naruto's mouth, tongues sliding against one another and lips moving languidly against the other's.

Sasuke unzipped the front of Naruto's jacket while they kissed and slipped the hand he wasn't using to hold himself up underneath Naruto's black t-shirt. He groped his way up Naruto's chest, finger's briefly flicking a nipple of their way past. Naruto groaned into the kiss and Sasuke let him breathe again.

Apparently Naruto hadn't wanted him to stop though because after a few moments he repeated the magic word that had started this.

"Sasuke."

It came out a little breathy and Sasuke stilled for just a moment. Hearing Naruto say his name like that, like it was almost a moan sounded amazing. It wasn't the first time he'd heard his name said in such a way, but it was the first time it hadn't made him disgusted. Actually that was possibly why it sounded so good to him. It erased all those other times so that now all he could remember was hearing Naruto say it with something he wasn't totally used to hearing. Want, certainly, but was there some small affection there too?

Sasuke leaned in and kissed him long and hard before scooting further down, pushing the t-shirt up and kissing his stomach, heading upwards while his fingertips teased just in underneath the top of his pants.

"Say it again," Sasuke encouraged, a tongue flicking out, over a nipple so when Naruto complied it came out in between proper words and that breathy little sigh just like before.

So this was a little more than fun and a distraction now. Not that he felt any particular fondness in that moment for the person beneath him, but never in his life had he wanted someone so much as he did right now. It was almost like fuck therapy or something. And he wanted it to feel just as good to Naruto, he wanted to drive him over the edge with want and need till he said Sasuke's name over and over. At this point he even let his Sharingan come back, he wanted to see again not just hear.

Sasuke's fingers hooked on the side of Naruto's pants and drew them down. His lips went to attack the exposed hip and whatever else was slowly being revealed. Eventually he drew them down over groin till Sasuke was face to face with a by now very hard cock. He let his breath waft over the head and watched a small amount of pre cum leak from the tip but he didn't go any further, not yet at least.

"Again," he demanded.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke leant forward and ran his tongue up the underside of his cock till he got to the tip, licking off that small drop of moisture before wrapping his lips around him and sucking him almost entirely in. Naruto moaned…loudly.

/"What was that?"/

The pair of them still at the sound of the voice.

/"What was what?"/

/"You didn't hear that? It was like a groan or something."/

/"You're letting those ghost stories get to you again. Look just cause that old guy said this place was haunted doesn't mean squat. You're letting your imagination get the better of you."/

/"Whatever."/

The voices started fading again.

Sasuke chuckled in his throat since his actual mouth was busy before drawing back and wrapping a hand around the slick cock instead. It was pretty funny that they thought Naruto's sex groans were actual ghosts.

"Let's see if we can't scare up some more ghost sounds," Sasuke suggested.

"Maybe we should stop."

He didn't think Naruto was serious. I mean he was hard and obviously had wanted this a few moments ago. Who would want to stop now? So Sasuke didn't stop what he was doing, he just increased the pressure of his grip a little more and moved his hand slowly, pumping him.

"No really, Sasuke you have to stop," Naruto said sounding a little strained. "Someone will hear us."

"Just try to be quiet then."

But that was a pretty stupid idea. Naruto could not be quiet. Ever. Even when he had full control over his senses which he clearly didn't at the moment.

"I don't think I can."

Sasuke leant back down and ran his tongue around the head of Naruto's cock and then asked. "You really want me to stop?"

"I don't want you to. But I think you have to."

What, The, Fuck?

Seriously? He really wanted to stop just because some guys had heard him? Really Naruto shouldn't care if someone found them, he'd been the one who wanted to get into a confrontation. Though granted probably not when he was in the middle of getting blown. And plus, Naruto may have asked Sasuke to stop, but he wasn't actually physically pushing him away either. The simple fact of it was probably because he couldn't. He must have been feeling pretty good and Sasuke figured his technique wasn't lacking so Naruto had asked Sasuke to stop because while Sasuke was doing anything to him, he was powerless to put a stop to it himself.

"Make me."

"What?" Naruto asked surprised.

"I said make me," Sasuke repeated. "You keep saying we should stop, yet you're lying there passively not so much as even attempting to move away from me. If you really want me to stop you should stop it yourself."

Sasuke gave him an arrogant smirk when Naruto didn't move or respond. So he hadn't been far off the mark after all. But he hadn't exactly counted on Naruto's stubbornness or apparent need to show Sasuke he wasn't in charge.

"Alright."

He knocked Sasuke's hand away and slid out from beneath him while Sasuke watched pretty shocked. But then he rolled onto his hands and knees in preparation of getting to his feet when Sasuke decided he wasn't going to win that easily.

Sasuke place his hand on Naruto's back to stop him from rising, sliding it up further and Sasuke got to his knees behind him and leant over him. Using that hand to brace himself he let his free hand trail up in between them and brush ever so lightly over his ass.

"You're not helping," Naruto growled softly to him.

"I know," Sasuke replied smugly. "That's sort of the point. Surely you can still resist me. After all, wasn't the first time we did this just you proving a point? It wasn't like you wanted me. Keep moving away if it's so easy."

"You're holding me down."

"You might not be able to beat me in a fight, but I think we both know you're stronger than I am physically. Move me, make me stop."

"Bite me teme," Naruto told him off harshly.

Really, he should watch what he said.

So for a second Sasuke made it seem as though Naruto had won. He took the weight off the hand holding him down and started moving it back down his body. He moved back so he wasn't pushing himself up against Naruto as well, letting his hand continue to trail down as though retreating. He let it get as far as Naruto's lower back before stopping. Now with better access Sasuke decided to treat Naruto's last comment as a request. He leaned forward pressed his mouth against one smooth ass cheek and bit down.

Naruto flinched but Sasuke exerted a little pressure with his hand to keep him still. The fact that Naruto's pants were almost around his knees, legs apart as much as his pants would allow didn't help his slowly eroding will to escape either.

What Sasuke did next he'd never actually done to anyone before. It had been done to him but he'd thought at the time it was something he himself could never bring himself to do to another person. It was strange but he didn't feel a single moment of aversion as he used his free hand to spread cheeks apart further before ducking his head down and licking once, very quickly at the sensitive skin. Lightly with the tip of his tongue he licked, teasing the nerves around the opening before pressing his tongue flush against it before moving on to a proper tongue massage.

He reached in between them to palm Naruto's cock once more. Naruto didn't make many noises but Sasuke got the impression it was through force of will and it was a battle with his body his will wasn't going to win for long.

But Sasuke knew he had him when Naruto said; "They'll hear us."

Sasuke stopped and drew back for a moment reaching into his pouch and drawing out a clean piece of cloth he kept handy for washing. He hadn't used this one yet so it was still dry and clean then he leant over Naruto again and pushed the bit of cloth into his mouth possibly a shade less gently than he should have. A small vindictive part of him wondered why he hadn't just done this before to shut him up despite the proximity of the guards. But then he reminded himself that there were advantages to listening to Naruto's voice on occasion as well.

"You mean they'll hear you," Sasuke corrected him. "Then bite down on that and don't make a sound."

Sasuke replaced his tongue with fingers this time. The well slicked opening allowed him to push a finger inside and he only just heard Naruto's almost soundless groan into the rag.

When Sasuke straightened back up again, he clamped a hand on Naruto's shoulder, forcing him to straighten up, back onto his knees only. That delving finger slipped out of him and Sasuke used both hands to pull the shirt and jacked up over Naruto's head before getting rid of his own shirt too. Naruto reached around and started undoing the tie on Sasuke's pants while Sasuke probed him again with his finger for a moment before a second finger was added and began spreading him.

Sasuke was surprised when his pants went loose to feel Naruto curl one hand around him while the other moved Sasuke's fingers away. Sasuke got the message pretty clearly but was still a little surprised. Most of the time Sasuke was all about the quick fucks, but for some reason or another he hadn't rushed it the first time they'd done it. It was better the more preparation you had and Naruto was fun to tease with all the sounds he made and the looks he got on his face. But far be it from him to not take the hint, he'd gotten what he wanted, he supposed fair was fair, but he just needed one thing beforehand.

Sasuke moved in closer, pressed flush now against Naruto's back and whispered into his ear while he reached around and plucked the cloth out of his mouth.

"Tell me you want this. Tell me you're doing this for no other reason than you want to."

"I want to," Naruto told him in a breathless whisper.

"I don't know whether to believe you."

"Sasuke, I want you."

That sounded like the honest truth.

"Good. You'll need this." Sasuke pushed the wadded up cloth back into his mouth. Then he pushed him down till he was back on his hands and knees on the ground. "Because I'm going to make you need it."

And Sasuke didn't just mean the cloth either.

* * *

_So this chapter probably wasn't much different from the original chapter because it was more physical than internal. But next chapter will be pretty different I promise _

_Dash._


	8. Alternate Chapter 3  Sasuke's POV

**I Need You To Need To**

**Chapter 3**

**Sasuke's POV**

_Sasuke watched the man carefully as the man watched him with the same hard eyes. Unlike Sasuke's eyes though, these eyes held something…extra. It wasn't a look he didn't recognise. This wasn't the first time Sasuke had dealings with this man after all._

_ They were standing in what passed for the man's office. He dealt in stolen items ranging from simple scrolls all the way up to people occasionally. It was a bleak little room hidden in the basement of a brothel and smelt of mildew and bad plumbing._

_ Sasuke was currently weighing up his chances of simply being able to kill the other man and take the scroll he'd been sent to fetch without having to listen to the man's ultimatum. Unfortunately for Sasuke, this man had his own reputation of being a cold and ruthless killer…among other things. And besides, if he went ahead and killed this man, Orochimaru would probably be pissed to say the least. _

_ Sasuke tried a different tactic. "You know who sent me."_

_ The man smirked at him, "Yeah, and I know which one of us will be in deeper shit if you return empty handed eh?" The man walked towards him and reached out to curl his fingers through the long bangs on the side of his face. It took a lot of Sasuke's willpower not to flinch and it took even more of his willpower not to break the guy's arm. _

_ But he'd been specifically ordered not to get into a fight with this man. And that order had been accompanied by a lecherous smirk that let Sasuke know that his master knew full well what he'd be asked to do in order to obtain the scroll. He hadn't told a soul about it the last time this had happened, in fact he'd spent rather a long time trying to forget it himself, but this man wasn't unknown to Orochimaru, he was a regular informant and contact. No doubt they knew what the man was like._

_ "I'm constantly surprised your master lets you out of his sight. If I had a pretty pet like you, I would keep you very close."_

_ His hand moved to caress the side of Sasuke's face causing Sasuke to glare at the man even more coldly. _

_ He didn't like not being in control, he didn't like being used and he especially didn't like creepy lechers touching him. _

_ Still of all the creepy lechers he met that came onto him, at least this one was familiar and didn't tend to hurt him too badly like others did. _

_ "Ah, Sasuke, if those looks of yours could kill…" the man said almost fondly before leaning in for a kiss._

_ Sasuke turned his head just before impact._

_ "No kissing. Let's just get this over with."_

_ The man leant back and grinned. "We'll see, pretty pet."_

_ He reached forward and pushed Sasuke's shirt off his shoulders and down his arms, sweeping admiring eyes over his revealed torso as the fabric fell away. Sasuke pretended not to notice the look. The sooner this was over, the better. So he went about relieving the other man of his clothes in an efficient and uncaring manner._

Just let him do it, get it over with. Close your eyes and think of something better.

_ Sasuke let himself be roughly bent over a wooden desk, hands gripping the sides in a white knuckled grip. His body was busy dealing with pain and revulsion while his mind went elsewhere. Anywhere else really was fine so long as it wasn't here. He made no sound apart from heavy breathing. But by the sound of the other man he was getting close to being finished but Sasuke tuned out again. _

_ He closed his eyes and felt something caress the side of his face. His eyes snapped open in shock. Nothing had touched his face, the other man's hands were busy and there was no one else around. But unlike the caress he'd received earlier, this one had felt more…caring? No that couldn't be it. No one cared about him, no one would ever touch him for any other reason than wanting him for his body._

_ He felt another brush against his lips and he breathed calmly for a moment lost in the touch from the invisible entity. _

_ But then he was dragged back to the reality of his body. The man had finished and pulled out. Sasuke felt something trickle out of him. Blood or semen, he wasn't sure which, but the feeling made him want to gag. The man grabbed his arm and turned him roughly around, leaning into him and putting his face so close Sasuke could feel hot sour breath on his face._

_ "You will kiss me, you'll do whatever I want you to do, sweet pet."_

_ He leaned in and pressed his lips against Sasuke's before he could turn away so Sasuke bit him, hard._

* * *

"Ow!"

Sasuke pushed the man away and sat up quickly.

_Wait, why am I lying on the ground. Why is it so dark?_

Then it came back to him. He was still in the temple trapped in the darkness. He wasn't with the lecher anymore, he was safe, more or less, and the only other person here was…

"Naruto?"

"Who'd you think it was, the First Hokage?" A slightly muffled but greatly annoyed voice shot back. "Why did you do that, Teme?"

"I didn't know…" Sasuke began without thinking before stopping himself. He didn't want to explain the real reason why he'd bitten Naruto. "Just why were you kissing me while I was asleep anyway?" Sasuke asked kind of annoyed himself. "It's a bit creepy, don't you think?"

"I like you better when you're asleep. You can't be an asshole when you're unconscious. At least I thought you couldn't be."

"You shouldn't try to be funny, it doesn't work. What else did you do while I was asleep?" Sasuke asked darkly. He didn't like the idea at all that Naruto might mess with him when he couldn't stop him, couldn't do anything. He was just like the others, he…"

"Oh, you know, groped you, drew on you, stuck things up your nose."

Naruto was lying and Sasuke relaxed. He didn't know why he'd been so angry at the thought till he'd calmed himself down. He'd been angrier at that thought than when others had done worse to him in the past. Actually that wasn't entirely true. He knew why he was angry, it was because he thought Naruto wasn't like the others and that Naruto wouldn't take advantage of him in that way. He'd been pissed that he might be wrong about that.

But he'd been right, Naruto wouldn't do that. Apparently all he'd done was try and kiss him.

"That's the second time you've lied to me," Sasuke told him. "Why do you bother when you know I can tell?"

"Because when I tell you the truth you don't really listen. But when I lie, you immediately believe the opposite. It's easier to tell you the truth if I lie to you."

Sasuke tried to work that one out in his head. But like most Naruto logic he just gave up.

"That made no sense."

"Of course it doesn't make sense," Naruto snapped at him. "Nothing I do when I am around you makes any kind of sense to me!"

Sasuke could relate. It almost made him feel a little bad for hurting him. Almost.

He heard Naruto move away and activated his Sharingan to see what he was doing. Naruto had moved to half lay against the wall behind him with only his head and shoulders touching the cold stone behind him. He also noticed that Naruto was still naked from earlier which was nice but also that his lip looked like it was bleeding pretty heavily.

Sasuke got up and walked over to him. He sat down on Naruto's outstretched legs and leaned in to look at the damaged lip.

"Take your hand away from your mouth," Sasuke ordered.

He didn't feel bad. Why should he? He wasn't the one being creepy and kissing sleeping people.

Naruto did as ordered and Sasuke cupped his chin with one hand in order to keep his patient still while the other hand lightly inspected the damaged lip. He'd bitten him pretty hard, blood was still oozing from the tear and had dripped onto Naruto's chin.

Okay, so maybe he did feel a little bad. His nightmares weren't Naruto's fault and the dobe hadn't tried to kiss him because he was being creepy or a lecher. Sasuke remembered the other touches that had given him a few moments of calm in his dream. It had probably been Naruto's doing and he was surprised that the guy could have that effect on him.

Sasuke scooted closer so that he was practically sitting in Naruto's lap and leaned in. He licked the blood off his chin and ducked his head down to catch a drop that had landed on his chest as well. Once that was done he carefully licked the blood off Naruto's lip.

He liked doing that and he wondered briefly if maybe he was more the creepy one. But it was the best sort of apology he could think of.

"Waking you is like waking a dog from a dream," Naruto commented still sounding slightly angry but not as annoyed as he had been. "The dog wakes up all scared from the dream and bites you before he realises what he'd doing."

Sasuke sighed. "First you compare me to a toad and now to a dog. It's not flattering," he pointed out.

"It wasn't meant to be," Naruto told him bluntly. But then in a softer voice he asked, "Were your dreams scaring you?"

What was the point in telling the truth? He wasn't sure if he was even up to admitting how much they scared him to himself yet.

"I don't remember," Sasuke lied. "How fast will your lip heal?" he asked changing the subject.

"Fast."

"Good. Don't wake me up like that again," Sasuke warned him. "It isn't safe."

_Because next time I might accidentally kill you rather than bite you, _Sasuke thought to himself. So many other nightmares ended up that way. Not the sex ones, but the fighting for your life ones. The Itachi ones almost always caused him to wake up pretty violently.

He could see in Naruto's expression that he was holding back from asking questions and Sasuke was more pleased by that than he expected. Who knew the dobe had tact?

"Get off me, my legs are going to sleep and the floor is cold," Naruto said instead.

Sasuke grinned. "Tough, I'm comfortable."

He didn't know why, but he liked having the contact now. For once in his life he could experience this sort of contact with someone and not be in fear of getting hurt in any way. Here, he had the control and he liked that feeling.

Naruto just shook his head at the comment, reached down and grabbed high up on Sasuke's legs. He pulled him forward so that he was properly sitting in Naruto's lap and Naruto could draw his legs up off the floor, his legs bent behind Sasuke's back.

Liking this position better, Sasuke leaned back on Naruto's legs and made himself more comfortable. He stretched his own legs briefly before drawing them up against Naruto's sides. He felt Naruto's arms rest on top of his knees as Naruto himself relaxed into the position a little more.

But not all of Naruto seemed to be relaxing. With a certain amount of amusement, Sasuke watched as Naruto's eyes flicked back and forth as though desperately trying to see what was spread out in front of him.

If anyone else had been doing it, Sasuke knew he wouldn't have been so amused. If the man from the nightmare were looking at him like that Sasuke would have been disgusted, but not Naruto. He realised then that even if Naruto had touched him while he'd been sleeping it would not have disgusted him as much either. He'd been afraid that Naruto doing that had meant he was just like the others, but Sasuke wasn't stupid, he knew it wasn't the same thing. He wasn't really like those others that ogled him and wanted to touch him just because he was a 'pretty pet'. Naruto only touched him to make him feel good and Sasuke kinda wished that Naruto did touch him more. It was the first time he'd craved someone else to touch him so much and it almost ached him that someone who wanted to please him for a change was the only one who wouldn't just reach out and do it. For the first time ever, he _wanted_ someone to want him so badly that they couldn't help themselves.

So far Naruto was being restrained which was a little teasing. But not as much as the slightly hardened cock starting to push up against his ass.

"So you wish you could see right now more than anything else?"

Naruto's eyes widened for a panicked moment when he realised he'd been caught out but then he must have remembered Sasuke could see him if he wished, so he made his face look annoyed. It wasn't very believable.

"No, I wish I had a cushion."

Sasuke smiled widely. "I am beginning to like it when you lie to me. You're right, it does make the truth a little clearer."

"What makes you think I'm lying now?" Naruto asked irritably.

"A few reasons. I can hear it in your voice, I can see it in your face and I can feel it that my seat isn't as soft as it was a couple of moments ago."

Now Naruto looked irritated for real. He obviously didn't like being caught staring.

"I thought you were going to give your eyes a rest."

"I will in a moment, but I like being able to see you for now. Do you wish you could see me?" Sasuke persisted slyly.

He saw Naruto nod. It was pleasing to see. Naruto did want him. Good.

"Use touch to see for you," Sasuke told him.

Naruto immediately went to reach out and do just that but he stopped just before he made contact and withdrew his hands.

"What?"

"You can see me," Naruto pointed out softly.

"Is that a problem? Would you prefer it if I couldn't?" Sasuke asked mildly surprised. Sure Naruto wasn't the most confident when it came to this stuff. But Sasuke was pretty sure that after everything they'd already done to each other, Naruto wasn't about to become all shy right now.

"Considering past events," Sasuke continued, "that doesn't make a lot of sense. Or do you think I have an unfair advantage?"

"Something like that," Naruto muttered.

Ah ha! He _was_ a bit shy! But for Sasuke that only seemed to make things better. He really was so innocent and naive sometimes, so different from all the others.

It was obvious though that Naruto wouldn't get over his nerves until he thought Sasuke was as blind as he was. But there was no way Sasuke was going to miss seeing this.

"I can't see you anymore," Sasuke lied.

"Don't lie."

"Fine."

_Well, well, well, learning, aren't we Naruto?_

Not that it made any difference. He'd only known Sasuke was lying because he knew what Sasuke was like. So Sasuke also knowing Naruto, knew that ultimately he would trust him so long as he sounded sincere enough.

"There, I really can't see you anymore," Sasuke lied again.

Naruto hesitated only a moment longer and reached forward again letting his hands trail up from where they were on Sasuke's knees, up his thighs and let his thumbs stroke the crease where leg met groin.

Sasuke watched the tentative touching. It was so light and his fingertips fluttered closer to his groin for a moment but instead he changed trajectory in a _very_ teasing movement. Instead Naruto ran his hands up over Sasuke's stomach and as far up his chest as he could reach without having to lean forward.

Sasuke liked this approach because it left Naruto reclined so Sasuke could see his hands, his intense expression and his body all in front of him for his own viewing pleasure.

He'd never felt so relaxed while someone touched him. Usually he tensed up as soon as he felt anyone else touch him even on the shoulder and he was surprised at himself at how calm his mind was. His stomach was still knotting, but not in a worrisome way. It was something else, and Sasuke knew what that was. He wanted this so much, he wanted these touches and more, he wanted…what? Perhaps he wanted desperately to feel more of this calm with someone who wanted to make him feel nothing but good. He'd never thought anyone could make him feel good without making him hurt somehow and he wanted more of it.

It was so relaxing and so good that he let his head loll back till it rested back against Naruto's upraised knee as Naruto ran his hands back down Sasuke's body and then eventually lightly over Sasuke's by now hardening erection. After all the teasing, finally getting that particular touch made him gasp lightly. His eyelids fluttered as he felt Naruto take him in his hand and begin to slowly work him.

Naruto must have gotten a little bolder after Sasuke's unusual but encouraging reactions. Sasuke felt fingers skim down over his leg then in between his ass cheeks where they brushed ever so lightly over the puckered opening.

That touch make him suck in quick and slightly panicked breath before he could stop it. He grabbed Naruto's wrist, stopping him immediately.

Okay so maybe he wasn't completely calm with every touch. But he wanted to be. He didn't want his past to overcome his present. He didn't want past lechers affect him anymore. He would overcome this.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked puzzled.

Naruto had every right to be confused really, he didn't know about Sasuke's past, he didn't know what it used to mean for him to feel fingers probing him without real want or desire. Not that Sasuke particularly felt like sharing, or at least not sharing with actual words.

So Sasuke loosened his grip a little and instead bought Naruto's hand up to his face, sucking the fingers into his mouth and coating them with saliva before replacing the hand back where it had been. He would do this, he wasn't afraid of anything.

And besides, "Nothing is wrong. I trust you."

It was true, how else could he explain his earlier calm? And this kind of level of comfort had only started with that first time in the Land of Shadows with Naruto. This was Sasuke's choice, he decided, he was in control and he trusted Naruto.

After that, all Naruto had to go on was mimicking what had previously been done to him. But that was good for Sasuke. Inexperienced hands were better than rough demanding hands for him right now. It helped his feeling of control, which was good because what he needed to do right now was relax. And besides, if Naruto did anything wrong, Sasuke had no qualms about correcting the mistake.

Sasuke felt those fingers tease around his opening while Naruto let his other hand continue to touch Sasuke wherever and however he wanted.

Soon enough Sasuke felt Naruto slip a finger inside, and worked it around before adding a second digit and begin to spread him. Sasuke had been dreading this feeling, but an unexpected moan slipped from between his lips, surprising him.

He felt Naruto shift underneath him a little uncomfortably after a few minutes and realised that where he was sitting was probably causing the discomfort. But the thought of moving was unfathomable. There was no way he was stopping now.

So Sasuke solved the problem by plating both hands on Naruto's hips and lifting himself up slightly. This was it, time to either trust or let his own fears win. He positioned himself above Naruto till he could feel the push of Naruto's cock against his prepared opening and was about to push down onto it when he felt Naruto grab his legs to stop him.

"You can't, it'll hurt. I haven't-"

Naruto was worried he hadn't been prepared enough which was more or less true. Another few minutes would have been better, but Sasuke didn't care. He wanted this so much, the waiting was torturous. He wanted to feel good without the fear. And he wanted that with this person he trusted. Little did Naruto know, that his concern just made Sasuke want him more.

"It has always hurt. But this will not hurt like before."

Sasuke could see him about to protest so he pushed down before he could voice any, the tip entering him making him grunt with the intrusion. For once it didn't sicken him, it still hurt a little, but he knew that wouldn't last too long. Slowly, very slowly, he eased himself down till he was again in Naruto's lap, legs now moved position to take his weight. He did nothing but breath heavily for a while, feeling that full feeling without feeling forced or hurried and it felt pretty good. He could see Naruto's sweaty face, trying like hell to make him stay still when Sasuke could see that all he wanted to do was push up into that warmth again and again. It made Sasuke smile a little to see the controlled desire there, plain as day on his face.

Sasuke had experience being wanted but he didn't have experience feeling very special because of it. And as if Naruto had read his mind and wanted to reinforce that notion, he sat up more and put a hand to the back of Sasuke's head, coaxing him to duck his own head down enough to be kissed. While their tongues were intertwined, Sasuke started to move.

Naruto moaned and Sasuke watched through half lidded eyes as Naruto bit down onto his already damaged lip, which must have hurt, but he looked far from caring. Sasuke meanwhile shifted himself slightly causing Naruto's cock to brush up against that spot inside him that would help muffle the pain and bring him pleasure instead. He found it with a groan of his own and focussed on moving himself just right to hit the spot as much as possible.

He felt Naruto grab his hips trying to slow the pace but Sasuke ignored him. They'd been at this for a while already and if Naruto was close it didn't matter because Sasuke felt on the edge himself. But then Naruto exerted a little more pressure on his hips to make him pay attention and Sasuke grunted at the interruption.

"What?" he asked breathlessly.

"What's your hurry?"

Sasuke didn't respond but he did slow down a little. Obviously for Naruto coming wasn't everything and he wanted to feel more pleasure and not just the end result. Sasuke was so used to getting the actual deed over as quickly as possible that he hadn't thought that there was more enjoyment to be had by drawing it out.

This concept was a little alien to Sasuke. He never really wanted to rush preparation and teasing time because for one thing Sasuke knew the pain associated with going too fast and for another he'd worked out he liked teasing. He liked hearing the other person make noises that he'd made come out of them. So unless Naruto got impatient with him, he liked to take that part slow. But the actual act itself he was used to quick and fast and getting it over with because in the past that had been his only true pleasure in sex. He'd get a release and he could finally leave. But he didn't have to treat this the same way. He was enjoying himself, it felt good so why fall into old habits when he was enjoying new ones so much?

He felt Naruto's lips and teeth attack his neck giving him shivers and making his head spin a little. He moaned and wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders, using it for leverage but all it really did was bring their bodies closer together and Sasuke could feel his hardness rub up in between their bodies and soon enough he felt that low down coil in his belly and his muscles tense up as he gave in and came between them just after he heard Naruto do the same.

Naruto collapsed back against the wall again with Sasuke still on top of him and pressed together, both of them breathing incredibly hard, hearts beating wildly. Normally this was where he would move. It wasn't like he was some sap who needed to be held after sex, but he was exhausted, drained and it felt good laying here despite their sweat and other fluids.

Truthfully he felt a little elated. He'd done it and boy, he'd enjoyed it too. He was so sure he'd be able to overcome it, but before this he might never have imagined that Naruto would overcome it with him.

He rolled his eyes at himself, he couldn't believe he was internally praising Naruto for not being some horrible lech.

"I thought you were supposed to have some amazing stamina or something," Sasuke said mockingly after a few moments.

He felt Naruto heave a big sigh. "If you didn't tease me like crazy before I might have. I didn't notice you complaining when you came all over us both."

"I suppose you have a point." Then he quietly added. "I needed that."

Naruto went quiet for a while after that and it was like Sasuke could almost hear him trying to work that out and trying like hell not to ask too many questions and Sasuke smiled.

_The dobe certainly was learning huh?_

"Sasuke, I gotta move, my ass is asleep."

Bad news, he'd have to move anyway. Pity, he'd been really comfortable. So slowly, accompanied by a few groans, Sasuke got to his feet. He was going to hurt for a little while after this. But at least this time the hurt would be a good reminder for a change rather than a bad one.

Sasuke stood above Naruto and looked down at him as he tried to shift muscles that had fallen asleep.

"Give me your hands," Sasuke ordered.

Naruto held up his hands to the sound of Sasuke's voice and Sasuke took them immediately, pulling Naruto painfully to his feet.

"You liar," Naruto accused, frowning in the vague direction of Sasuke's face. "You could see the whole time, couldn't you?"

Sasuke grinned. "You're accusing me of being untruthful? That would be so out of character for me," Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"Damnit Sasuke, I-"

But just before Naruto had opened his mouth to tell him off, Sasuke heard a noise that made him pay attention. So Sasuke cut off his rant putting a hand to his mouth and listened intently for the sound again. There it was, a scratching sound over at the other end of the room just near the secret door.

Sasuke stepped away from Naruto and silently went around the room gathering their things so they could get dressed and prepare for a fight if it was coming. Well Sasuke could at least. After he'd given Naruto his clothes and dressed himself, he grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and backed him up against the wall.

Naruto couldn't really help here if it came to a fight. He was blinded and wasn't great at fighting in small spaces anyhow. There was no way for him to tell Naruto not to get in his way though without making a noise so he grabbed Naruto's arm, pushed up his sleeve and with a light touch, spelt out the word 'stay' onto his arm with his fingertip.

He hoped Naruto got the message and moved away quickly before he got the inevitable argument if Naruto did understand. Either way, Sasuke was pleased that Naruto didn't make a sound and stayed where he'd told him to. Even if he looked pretty annoyed about it.

The scratching coming from their hidden door meant Sasuke would have to fight off their attackers on his own, but he hoped he still had an element of surprise on his side. They were probably as blind as Naruto was and Sasuke was not. If he could incapacitate their attackers quickly and quietly, he and Naruto could escape the temple or at the very least find somewhere else to hide out for a while.

Sasuke was just readying himself for the fight ahead when the door scraped open and a searing light hit him full on. It was so bright and he was so close that he felt stunned. This wasn't a normal light, this hurt. It seemed to shoot right into his brain through his eye sockets and burn itself into his mind. It was almost a relief when he passed out even before he hit the flagstones.

* * *

_Notes: Ah, so this was probably quite a bit different than the original chapter considering a little less than half of the original Sasuke was asleep for. So we got a little peek into Sasuke's past and also a little insight into why it seemed like such a big deal for him to tell Naruto that he trusted him. Hope you liked it. Chapter 4 should be out soonish._

_Dash._


	9. Alternate Chapter 4  Sasuke's POV

**I Need You To Need To**

**Chapter 4**

**Sasuke's POV**

Sasuke woke up feeling very hung over. His head was aching, his stomach felt twisted up and he wasn't sure after his first few seconds of being awake whether he was going to pass out again or just simply throw up. Either one would make him feel better but instead he was forced to sit there, with his arms stretched behind his back, tied to this tree, feeling very sick for almost and hour before he started feeling well enough to open his eyes and take a look around.

A little ways away he could see a newly set up campfire burning and a few guys seated around it. None of the men seemed to be watching him though and Sasuke scoffed at their amateurish behaviour. Just because he and Naruto had been taken by surprise in the temple didn't mean that the pair of them were useless. They'd been underestimated, but oh well, the enemy would learn soon enough their mistake.

Thinking of Naruto, Sasuke looked around till he saw Naruto tied to a tree not too far away, head bowed, hair slightly falling over his face and evidently still unconscious. He didn't look injured which had been Sasuke's main concern.

He let his eyes rest on his sleeping face for a moment longer thinking that something seemed out of place. But then Sasuke realised that it was because he could see Naruto in real light from a campfire without the aid of his Sharingan for the first time since he'd seen him disappear inside the temple a couple of days ago. And he looked good; the soft glow of his tan, the blond spikes, even the bright orange of his jacket and pants were something Sasuke had missed seeing in any detail. And for a strange reason he felt it was incomplete without being able to see the deep blue of his bright eyes.

"Naruto!" Sasuke hissed across to him. "Dobe, wake up."

Naruto didn't stir and Sasuke stopped trying to wake him. One of the ninja had noticed he was awake and two of the enemy were walking toward him with big grins on their faces.

Sasuke made his face go expressionless and waited for them to come closer.

He itched to get loose and beat the living shit out of these men. He was angry. Mostly because he'd been captured, but that was really only a minor setback. Partially because he felt like crap and it was their fault. And at least a little because Naruto wouldn't wake up and Sasuke wanted…what? To see if he was okay?

_No way. _

Okay, maybe a little.

"So we're awake are we?" The man asked still grinning. Evidently he thought he had Sasuke exactly where he wanted him.

"How perceptive," Sasuke muttered.

The man didn't seem concerned that Sasuke was giving him lip though.

"So we saw that your friend over there is a Fire Country ninja but we couldn't work you out. We didn't see you fight and you don't have any country allegiance we could see. All we saw was that symbol on your back which no one here seems to recognise. That fine sword of yours leads me to believe you aren't one of the monks though. So just what are you boy?"

So he'd managed to be captured by some of the few ninja who didn't seem to recognise an Uchiha clan symbol when they saw it. This was good news.

"I'm a shoe salesman."

"You got a bit of lip on you for a shoe salesman," the man responded with an even bigger grin. "And a hell of a way of scaring the men. I had to come looking when they started complaining about ghost sounds coming from the walls. I tell you boy, when I heard it myself I couldn't tell if you pair were making up ghost sounds, fighting or fucking to be perfectly honest."

"Two out of the three most of the time," Sasuke told him not in the least bit embarrassed.

The man raised and eyebrow but didn't comment on which out of the three had been correct. Instead he hunkered down in front of Sasuke and looked him in the eye.

"You know, you don't look so good. That jutsu was just meant to stun you but you look like shit, boy. I tell you what, my master will be here soon, I could put in the good word if you tell me who you are and why the Fire Country is after the Orb. I'll also get you some water and food which should perk you up a bit."

"Okay," Sasuke conceded. "I'll tell you why they want it." The man leaned closer and Sasuke told him, "The Lady Hokage wants it as a talking point for her next dinner party."

The man rolled his eyes and leant back, the smile gone from his face for the first time since he'd started walking toward Sasuke.

"You know I'm just trying to make it easier on you. We could be a lot meaner you know. You want I should string your fuck buddy up to a tree and have my men take pot shots at him with kunai?"

Sasuke shrugged as much as his bonds would allow him. "I must have missed the part where you threatened _me_ then."

"Hey, that's pretty cold. Maybe we should wake your friend up for this conversation. I doubt he'd be so happy to hear your total disregard for his well being."

"You say that like he'd be shocked," Sasuke replied. "Go ahead, wake him up, let him hear me speak about how much I don't care about what happens to him, he still won't give anything up. Go ahead and throw knives at him if you really want. Personally I would love to see what happens to you and your men when you piss him off enough that he breaks his bonds and tears you all apart." Sasuke fixed the man with a dark smirk. "Go ahead, wake him up, please."

The man stood up and took a few steps back, shaking his head in disgust and retreated back into the trees to talk to his companion out of earshot of Sasuke.

Sasuke intended to read their lips anyway so he reactivated his Sharingan and…almost screamed from the pain. It was like being in front of that stun attack again it hurt his head so much. But he managed just barely to stay silent and keep from losing the Sharingan long enough for the pain to die down. He breathed raggedly for a while but eventually his head stopped hurting enough for him to look up and focus on the two men.

"You realise we just stole the Orb from not only the monks but the Fire Country as well now," the other man said to the one who had been questioning Sasuke.

"The Fire Country won't know if we kill the kid and burn the body. Nobody but these two have seen us out here."

"It's pretty risky, killing Fire ninja. I mean sure, they aren't our allies, but they're a big angry dog that sits on our border like it owns our country already. Their ninja goes missing and then the Orb turns up in our hands? That's all the ammo they're gonna need to invade."

"Good point. And if that smart ass kid is from the same village that could make it even worse. Look, stash the Orb with my things and we'll wait for Master Masu to arrive and let him decide what to do with them. We've covered a lot of ground since dragging these two out of the temple, he should be here at sunrise."

"Okay."

The men finished their conversation and moved off. Sasuke thankfully let his eyes fade back to normal and turned his head back around to find Naruto staring at him.

One question answered, Naruto was okay after all.

"Have a nice nap Dobe?"

"Bite me, Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked at him. "I would if I could. But it might have to wait a little while."

Naruto rolled his eyes at his pervert of a friend and asked, "What were they talking about?"

"They were deciding whether to kill us now or keep us around for questioning. Apparently after seeing your headband and knowing where you come from they're a little reluctant to kill you. Making an enemy of a powerful neighbour like the Fire Country is not a good move for them. They're going to wait till their Master comes and let him decide. Meanwhile they've taken the Orb out of my things. I suggest we take it back when the opportunity presents itself."

He'd said that last part matter-of-factly because it was. He knew perfectly well that either one of them could break their bonds and escape any time they wanted. In fact together they could probably kill more than half the campsite before the others hand a chance to even grab their weapons. But somehow he didn't think Naruto would be up for that. Well, not the killing part anyway.

"Do you know how long it's been?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Just one night in the temple. This is the night of the second day. Or early morning of the third probably. Why?"

Naruto seemed to think about it for a while and then answered, "Sai is coming for me not this coming day but the day after."

"Sai?" And then Sasuke remembered. That weird looking guy that seemed to be a part of team Kakashi now. The one that had gone on about Naruto so much when he'd first met him. "Oh, my replacement."

"Yeah, your replacement," Naruto confirmed obviously not liking Sasuke's tone. "What, did you think they world stopped turning just because you deserted us? We still have missions to do whether you're there or not. He's a good guy. You'd like him actually, he doesn't have any emotions either," Naruto snapped.

Well Naruto had certainly overreacted to Sasuke's dislike of his teammate. "You take things so personally Dobe. I'm sure the rest of your team aren't as upset at my leaving."

"Yeah right. Sakura loves you, you know."

Sasuke wasn't impressed. He'd pretty much knew that by her offering to follow him out the gates on the night he left.

"She only thinks she loves me. She doesn't know me at all," Sasuke replied dismissively. "Nobody who really knows me ever really…" Sasuke stopped himself before letting that little thought form. "Never mind."

"That's your problem. You don't let anyone get to know you."

"You don't think you really know me by now?"

Sasuke wasn't sure what he was implying by that. He'd so desperately wanted Naruto to be different from the others when they'd been inside the temple, but did that extend further than just the physical though? Did he really want Naruto to care about him for who he really was? And he found that he did. Of course that didn't mean he had any special feelings towards him, but he didn't hate the fact that someone else might have them for him. And not just because of superficial reasons like all the others did.

"I know as much about you as you let me know," Naruto replied carefully. "You choose what you share, so I only know as much as you choose for me to know. That's not really the same thing."

Sasuke smirked. "It's nice to know you think I have that much control over myself when I am around you. I'm usually careful around everyone. With you, sometimes being careful doesn't always work."

And that was true too. Naruto might think that Sasuke was still guarded around him, but compared to other people, he was positively a chatterbox. And besides Sasuke was more of a physical person. What he'd shared last night and what he'd accomplished because of that was a monumental thing for him to experience with another person. Naruto just didn't realise it. But admitting it would make things…complicated.

"I suppose that's sort of flattering. It would have been better though if you didn't feel the need to be careful at all. What's wrong with just being yourself?"

"This is being myself. It's just the way I am. You actually get me to not be my usual self mostly."

"Is that better?" Naruto asked puzzled by that.

"It's…singular," Sasuke replied honestly.

"I'm confused."

"That is distinctly not singular."

"And now you're teasing me again," Naruto said glowering.

"I like teasing you. With words and…other ways. I'm happy to give you the choice of whichever one you'd prefer."

Naruto just scowled even more which made Sasuke pretty pleased with himself.

"Why do you say things like that? Why do you like teasing me so much anyway? Why do you like doing anything with me? You don't like me at all. I always thought that you had to like someone to have sex with them. You don't even think of us as friends. But _you_ don't have to like them. You treat it like…entertainment."

If only Naruto knew that this was the first time he'd found anything about sex particularly enjoyable.

"It is entertaining," Sasuke told him. "You were bored in the temple so then I diverted you and you weren't bored anymore." _And I didn't feel so claustrophobic. Yet another thing you managed to temporarily cure me of. _"Doesn't it feel good?"

And he really wanted Naruto to feel good about this. He wanted Naruto to want him and he wanted Naruto to enjoy himself.

"That's not the point," Naruto said sourly telling Sasuke he'd scored a point there.

"It _is_ the point. Isn't it good enough to feel pleasure and have fun?"

"It's good," Naruto admitted. "But it shouldn't be enough."

"But it is, right?" Sasuke persisted. "That answers your other question, 'why you?' You do know me better than most people do whether I care to admit it or not. You accept it and you accept me. Well, most of the time anyway. You might ask questions, you might second-guess your own actions but only because of who _you_ are. I suspect you're not doing this to prove your point anymore. At least not totally, because there's more than a small part of you that enjoys what we do and because there's no hardship involved in it you're wondering what your motive is now."

For Sasuke that had been a week's worth of talking normally. But it only reinforced the idea that Naruto made him be someone else around him. Someone Sasuke was starting to like more and more as time went on.

It was a little daunting actually. For Sasuke, enjoyment meant a lot to him considering his past. Naruto didn't seem to be getting that but Sasuke was more than happy to leave him in ignorance and let him think that he was being cold instead.

"Okay, assume, maybe, that there is some truth to that. What do you think I should do about it?"

"Nothing," Sasuke replied simply. "Why bother to overanalyse it. Just accept what is in front of you, do what makes sense to you at the time. You can't get too involved because you don't know what might happen in the future. It was three months before we happened upon one another this time. Next time it could be years. Why bother yourself over it too much?"

He couldn't believe he was trying to talk such an impulsive person into living in the moment. But then again he was also trying to talk a very honourable sort of person into enjoying casual sex with someone he wasn't in love with. He wondered if hormones or honour would win out in the end. Whatever it turned out to be, Naruto certainly took his time thinking over what Sasuke had told him which Sasuke took as a good sign. But then Naruto seemed to go off on his own little tangent.

"If you came back to the village and we saw each other every day, would you still want this," Naruto seemed to wonder aloud. "We would see each other every day and have a real bed for once with sheets and pillows instead of dirt and stone. But would it be the same, would you even like that? Would I?"

At first Sasuke was a little annoyed that Naruto had started talking about the village. But as his litany of questions went on, Sasuke could see what he was getting at. If Sasuke wasn't in this situation of being a rogue, an avenger and led a normal life where they saw each other all the time, would Sasuke still be interested in pursuing any sort of attachment with him even if it was just 'entertainment'. So Sasuke gave it some serious thought. He even wondered if this, whatever 'this' was would have even taken this long to happen if they still saw each other every day considering their fight/compete/win relationship which was something they'd always had and something that had a lot to do with the whole kiss dare in the first place. Sasuke doubted it.

"It wouldn't suck," Sasuke replied simply.

He saw Naruto's eyes widen and Sasuke realised his mistake too late.

"What if I could promise you that? If you came back you could have whatever you wanted, however you wanted."

"Such ego," Sasuke scoffed wanting to diffuse this situation pretty quickly. "You think I would give up my mission just for a hot fuck?"

Naruto's face reddened at that. He expected Naruto to start yelling at him or abusing him but instead he just said softly, "No I guess not. But when you're done with your mission do you think you might want to come back?"

"Like I said, the idea doesn't suck."

Naruto nodded and let this sink in. But then something seemed to occur to him.

"Wait did you call me hot before?"

"I said you were a hot fuck. The fucking is hot, not you."

"I can't even tell if you are being mean or not, Teme."

Sasuke just gave him his usual half smile. "Just because I meant it one way, doesn't necessarily discount the other way either."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Dobe."

Sasuke didn't feel like explaining any further and they fell into silence for a few moments.

"I think they're asleep now. Should we escape?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

It took no effort at all to escape their bonds. The idiots only posted one guard for the camp and he was too busy watching for outside threats rather than anything from the two apparently well-tied prisoners in camp.

Naruto crept up on him and knocked him out while Sasuke went as silently as a ghost through the camp and took back the Orb. He was sorely tempted to slit the throat of the guy who had threatened him earlier but left him alone in the end knowing that Naruto was probably watching him.

Together they left the camp behind and when Naruto got his bearings, headed back towards the Sun Village.

* * *

Sasuke was okay at first, running through the forest with Naruto, but after about ten minutes he started to feel sick and light headed again. He shook off the feeling quickly though and forced himself to continue on. But after five more minutes he stumbled a little almost falling. The only thing that stopped him from dropping was Naruto grabbing his shoulder and steadying him.

After a moment of standing still, Sasuke brushed Naruto's hand away and turned to begin running again without comment. Naruto followed him, surprisingly without a word, but he would have preferred him not to see his weakness at all and it annoyed him that he had slipped up like that.

But not even ten more minutes later he pitched forward into the dirt. He forced himself back onto his feet just as Naruto stopped beside him, a concerned look on his face. Naruto grabbed his arm to help him up and Sasuke brushed him off again but this time, he turned his head to glare fiercely at him too.

He didn't need Naruto's help. Naruto wasn't falling down all sick and dizzy from the stun jutsu so Sasuke decided he wouldn't be affected either. If only he could get the rest of his body to agree with his brain that is.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke turned his face away and got fully to his feet, not wanting Naruto to see any looks of pain on his face. But he ruined it by swaying a little and Naruto grabbed his shoulders and steadied him. Sasuke was about to shake him off but Naruto redoubled his grip.

"Seriously," Naruto continued. "You were fine back in camp. What happened?"

Sasuke looked up a little but he was so exhausted it was even an effort to keep his head up. He glared at Naruto, or at least tried to but he couldn't work up the energy to reply.

"Sasuke," Naruto prompted.

Sasuke blew out a breath of air and glared some more. "I _was_ fine back in camp, but I was resting. I don't know what that light attack was in the temple but it did something to me."

"What did it do?" Naruto asked all concern.

Sasuke didn't know. "It's alright for you, you slept it off. I couldn't, I woke up just after they tied us. My head feels like it's about to explode as soon as I try to run. I don't know what's happening, but something is wrong."

It hurt Sasuke to admit it, but in a situation like this, it wasn't like he could fake the pain away just like he'd intended to through sheer force of will.

"Um, normally I'd tell you to take a break and sit down but we probably have at least a dozen pissed off ninja after us by now."

"You think I don't know that?" Sasuke asked irritably.

"I'll carry you," Naruto said after a moment.

"No."

It was one thing to admit that he was in a bit of pain. It was another thing entirely to have Naruto carry him like he couldn't take care of himself or something,

"Fine," Naruto let go of him and turned away. "Start running then."

But it was all a show, he was trying to get Sasuke to admit defeat, but Sasuke wouldn't.

Naruto only got a few paces away before he looked back. Sasuke really wanted to move, to show Naruto that he wasn't beaten yet. Showing weakness to anyone just gave them something to exploit after all.

Naruto stalked back, turned his back to Sasuke and went down on one knee. "Climb on."

"Where have I heard that before?" Sasuke tried to tease, to diffuse the situation. But Naruto wasn't biting.

"You ever wanna hear it again?" Naruto snapped. "Get on, I'll carry you."

"I'll take my chances with the ninja. I'm not asking you to hang around. We're out of the temple, we can go our separate ways now."

_And you wont have to see me like this._

But then Naruto just turned and drove his shoulder into Sasuke's unsuspecting midsection, doubling him over his shoulder before hoisting him up. Sasuke wanted to rant at him, wanted to smack him on the back of the head and demand to be put down. But Naruto would be too stubborn and realistically he was right. If Sasuke wanted to survive he'd have to accept the help. Even if he hated himself for it.

It was going to be a while before they got back to the village. The Rain ninja had travelled many hours away from the temple carrying them in order to keep travelling as fast as possible. After all they had the Orb and they were heading home and there was no reason to dawdle in enemy territory any longer than necessary. Naruto didn't have the luxury of passing carrying duties off to anyone else and while he was still strong and fit, the pure fact of it was that he was travelling at half speed after already carrying Sasuke for an hour and was only going to slow down further the longer he went without rest.

Sasuke meanwhile drifted in and out of consciousness while he was slung over Naruto's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It was really uncomfortable but he was so exhausted he couldn't keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time.

He woke a little more fully though as Naruto unceremoniously plopped him down onto his butt underneath a tree near a stream.

Sasuke blinked a few times in the pre-dawn light and said in a very deadpan voice, "Ow."

"You're welcome," Naruto replied harshly.

"Whatever. I told you not to, you're the one who wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Yeah, sure. Carry you or leave you to die. That's not a lot of options."

"Two is enough," Sasuke replied thinking back to when he was debating killing Naruto in the temple or just to simply abandoning him in the dark. "Why bring me along anyway? We aren't allies anymore, we should have gone out separate ways the moment we left camp."

Naruto knelt down by the stream and splashed some water on his face. "The Sun Village is out best bet. It's the closest place where the Rain ninja won't come after us." Naruto replied tactfully ignoring the jab about not being allies anymore. "Besides, you still have the Orb."

Sasuke snorted suddenly feeling like an idiot. "I see."

"Don't say that like you know it's the only reason. You were so weak back there I could have taken it back and you know it."

"Hnn."

"Teme, a three year old could've taken the Orb back there and you've been unconscious for almost an hour."

Naruto was telling the truth of course. If he really wanted the Orb and nothing else he could have taken it ages ago and ditched Sasuke in the forest back there and Sasuke would have been near powerless to stop him. Deep down he knew Naruto would never do anything like that, that he couldn't do it. He just wasn't that kind of person.

"Whatever," Sasuke replied like he didn't care. "How much farther?"

Naruto came and sat down beside Sasuke and leant back against the tree.

"If we could both run we'd be there in about an hour. It's not real far now. But if I gotta carry you…"

Naruto left the last part unsaid, probably not wanting Sasuke to feel like more of an invalid. It didn't work.

"I can walk." Sasuke replied stubbornly. He might have given in to momentary weakness before but he wouldn't again. And besides, he was starting to feel a bit better for his little rest, uncomfortable as it was. "If there were anyone after us they would have caught us by now. We can afford to slow down a little. Besides, I feel a lot stronger now."

Perhaps he was pushing it a little to say 'a lot'. He couldn't really make himself sit up properly yet, he was still pretty weak, but he knew he could walk. Naruto, however, didn't look convinced.

But then, strangely, Naruto grinned at him. "Alright, we can go slow. And if anyone catches up I can protect you."

That was about the last straw. It was bad enough he'd needed to be carried, but he wasn't about to be protected like some whimpering damsel either.

"I don't need anyone to protect me," he snapped. "Least of all you."

Well, that wiped the smile from Naruto's face quickly.

"You must hate me a lot," Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke had expected him to just flare up and start calling him names or at least argue with him. He hadn't expected this kind of a response. He was taking things so personally lately. Sasuke looked over at him in surprise.

"What, why?"

"That's pretty harsh. I'm a lot stronger now, you don't even know what I can do. But you just say that sort of stuff to be mean to me. You must really hate me."

Sasuke looked away and closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't really meant the statement to be all that hurtful really. But it made him think about what Naruto said a little more carefully. He knew he didn't hate Naruto. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what he really felt right now.

"Hate is a bit strong. I say what I say, I don't do nice."

"I noticed."

Sasuke opened his eyes again and smirked at Naruto's sullen expression. "It's not like I really mean it. What's with you anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"You being sullen. Why aren't you ranting at me or trying to tell me how fantastic you are like you usually would?"

"Right, so you can be a jerk again? Yeah, I don't think I'll bother." Naruto grumbled this time being the one to break eye contact by closing his eyes and resting his head back against the tree trunk.

Sasuke watched his face for a few quiet moments noticing for the first time how tired Naruto looked now. He'd been carrying Sasuke for a while and it wasn't like he'd had a good night's sleep the past few nights either. It struck him in that moment how different Naruto looked now than when they were kids. Obviously he looked older, his features had matured a little and his body had grown to match. But it wasn't just that, it was in his reactions, his speech and most of all, in his eyes. Sasuke couldn't see them now but he knew how different they looked these days. Naruto didn't smile so much anymore, didn't laugh all that much and it showed in his eyes. Something about him looked wearier these days and Sasuke wondered if he had something to do with it. Was Naruto this way around others too? Did he goof off just like he used to with his friends, laugh and smile like nothing was wrong? Or was this what had Naruto had been reduced to now? Seeing a Naruto without hope, humour or real happiness was like seeing a puppy slowing drowning in a river and being unable to stop it. It was sick and cruel to watch and it didn't feel right. Sasuke didn't like things being out of place. At least that's what he told himself when he deliberately touched Naruto's hand lying on the ground between them. Just the barest little touch on Naruto's little finger with his own before twining the finger with Naruto's.

He didn't really understand why he was doing it. He didn't get why he should feel like he needed to reassure the dobe about anything. And besides, they'd shared things a lot more intimate than this. But then that was sex, this was, what? Affection? Well, Sasuke could handle that. He trusted Naruto, he shared more with him than any other person so was it so weird that he felt some kind of fleeting affection for his old friend? Sasuke decided that it wasn't. Especially when he felt Naruto respond by curling their fingers together ever so slightly but more firmly together. He felt a small rush of warmth at that and even a little relieved to know that Naruto didn't think he was being too weird either.

"Do you know how many people I've told that I trust them?" Sasuke asked him.

"No."

Sasuke sighed, well Naruto wanted him to share more right?

"None."

Thankfully Naruto just stayed put, unmoving while he let that sink it. Honestly Sasuke didn't think he could have stood it if Naruto made a big deal out of the admission. But Sasuke knew that Naruto had to be feeling pretty good about knowing that. For someone who craved acceptance so much, Naruto's ego must have been puffing up pretty big.

A sudden noise caught Sasuke's attention but still being a little groggy and slow, he was unprepared to block the thrown kunai aimed at his head. Naruto's reflexes were better and he reached out and caught the kunai inches from Sasuke's face. Shocked that Naruto had caught it in time, they both stared at the kunai for a few seconds. It didn't last though and they moved before more thrown kunai could hit them.

Sasuke had put all his remaining strength into moving away but he was still slow getting to his feet. Naruto didn't wait for him and took off in the direction of the thrown weapons. Sasuke watched him disappear into the brush and took the opportunity to get to his somewhat unsteady feet and scan the area for any more signs of attack. Nothing more was thrown and no one seemed to want to challenge him and he was about to set off after Naruto when he heard a man scream in the direction Naruto had run off in.

Sasuke moved off as fast as he could manage toward the noise but he wasn't particularly worried. It hadn't been Naruto's voice so Sasuke could assume that Naruto had the upper hand.

Still he was unprepared for the sight that greeted him when he caught up to Naruto and his, well, victims was probably the best word to describe them now.

Sasuke crouched down by one of their enemies and saw the man's neck had been broken. The strength needed to do that with a single hit was extraordinary.

"Dobe, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you," Sasuke told him. But he found that he didn't really mean it. Naruto wasn't a ruthless killer, he wasn't meant to be. It was messing with what Sasuke thought was right again and he didn't like it. Naruto wasn't meant to be like, well, like him. That was the point.

And then Sasuke noticed something off about Naruto. It was his eyes, they were red and vertically slit, just like that had been in their last fight at the Valley of the End.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

Naruto looked confused not only with the question but with a lot of things. He obviously didn't think he'd had this in him either.

"What?"

Sasuke straightened and walked the rest of the way toward Naruto. He stopped in front of him and stared into those strange eyes.

"You've got fox eyes."

But when he touched the side of Naruto's face to keep Naruto from moving so he could look properly, the red went away, replaced by the familiar bright blue.

Sasuke frowned. "And now it's gone."

Sasuke knew what it was. It was that thing living inside him, the demon. Well at least it wasn't entirely Naruto's doing that all these men had ended up dead. It actually made Sasuke feel a bit better about it.

"You know," Sasuke continued letting his hand drop down to his side. "You saving me and running off in a rage to slaughter my would-be killers would be terribly romantic if I were say, a woman," Sasuke finished sarcastically.

He was teasing Naruto, but he wondered if Naruto had really done all this because Sasuke had almost been hit. Did he fly into a rage and let the fox help him slaughter three men just because they'd almost killed Sasuke? Well Naruto was protective by nature, and Sasuke wasn't about to dwell too much on the deaths of three people who'd almost killed him. It still disturbed him a little even so, but not as much as it seemed to be disturbing Naruto. But then Naruto saw Sasuke watching him and forced a smile.

"I think being in that darkness did some good," Naruto told him with false cheer. "Did you see that catch with the kunai? My eyes were closed but I heard the movement."

Well if Naruto wanted to change the subject that was fine. So Sasuke smirked and leaned in close.

"I know it did me some good."

Having Sasuke this close, Naruto closed his eyes just like he always did when he expected Sasuke to kiss him. But Sasuke just waited patiently for Naruto to open his eyes again to say:

"I think the hero can wait till we get back to the village where we're less like to be attacked by ninjas, don't you?"

Sasuke started walking off while Naruto was struck speechless. It only lasted a few moments.

"Jerk!" Naruto called after him.

Sasuke grinned widely.

* * *

It took them the better part of the day to get back to the village. And though Sasuke knew he was the reason for the slow pace, by taking it easy he'd managed to actually regain a lot of his lost strength and recover more. He felt pretty good by the time they stepped into the village proper and was looking forward to being able to tire himself out all over again with Naruto tonight.

Sasuke had already decided to give the Orb to Naruto instead of keeping it. Really his main goal had been keeping it away from the Rain ninja and although it was a handy thing to have, Sasuke figured it was in his best interests at the moment not to stir up more trouble for himself. Of course Naruto wouldn't turn him in as a thief, but him returning to the monks empty handed would put the village on high alert and all Sasuke really wanted right now was a bed and some relaxation time. He was tired and didn't want to spend the rest of the night running so it was a simple thing to hand the Orb over to Naruto as they stood outside the hotel Sasuke figured he could best afford for the night.

"Do we have to fight over the Orb now, cause-"

Sasuke stopped him mid-sentence by taking Naruto's hand and dropping the small Orb into his waiting palm. Once he did that he turned and headed toward the hotel.

"You owe me Dobe. Come find me later."

Sasuke was shown to his room where the maid laid out his bedding and retreated without another word. Sasuke spent a few long moments, staring at the soft, inviting looking futon while he took off his shirt and laid his weapons down where they would be within easy reach if he needed them through the night.

Seeing such comfort after being so long without it reminded him of something Naruto had been lamenting about. Previously they had only been together without such things. Hard stone and dirt, twigs and rocks and Sasuke smiled at the thought that tonight would be different.

Naruto would come to him, he was certain and they would lay here together with soft padding underneath them and the entire night to enjoy themselves. Of course until tomorrow when they would part ways once more till who knew when.

The thought depressed him more than a little. He enjoyed this, he realised. He never got to just relax anymore without the weight of the world hovering over his head and all he got was one little night to enjoy it before reality came crashing down once more.

Who knew that being with Naruto could offer him such an escape that he would get depressed with the notion of losing it again. He made himself stop thinking about it though and tried to follow his own advice to Naruto.

_Just accept what is in front of you, do what makes sense to you at the time. You can't get too involved because you don't know what might happen in the future._

Sage advice really, even though Sasuke hadn't fully realised it at the time. But he would take his own advice tonight.

Sasuke heard the door open and quickly crossed over to drag Naruto the rest of the way inside by his jacket before the dobe had a chance to react. The door was kicked closed and Sasuke dragged him across the room till they were in front of the futon where Sasuke turned him and pushed him down to land in the soft bedding.

Sasuke followed him down, bracing himself up with a hand either side of Naruto's head and smirked at him.

"We have a night together in a real bed for once with sheets and pillows instead of dirt and stone," Sasuke told him, repeating what Naruto had said the night before. "Well, do you like it?"

He was pleased to see the idea and meaning met with smiling eyes.

"The idea doesn't suck," Naruto replied repeating the same thing Sasuke had said to him.

Sasuke enjoyed the comfort. He took his time with everything for once. Without the threat of being discovered and killed gone for the first time ever between them he allowed himself to relax and lose himself into his newfound world of escape where there was nothing but pleasure, sensation and hearing his name moaned in just the way he liked it. He must have spent hours touching, tasting and exploring the body in front of him and that was a first for him. It was almost a shame it had to end. Almost. Ending was also such a good feeling too but for the first time ever it hadn't been his favourite part.

Tired and sated the pair lay side by side in the darkness of the early morning hours. And while Sasuke lay away from Naruto on the bedding, still not totally comfortable without his space, he felt a little cold suddenly all alone with only the memory of a warm body to keep him company. So he snaked out a hand and rested his fingers against Naruto's, lightly, barely touching but he found it made him feel better. He had his space but he was hardly lonely anymore. It felt good.

The next morning when Sasuke heard the door bump shut as Naruto left he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He'd been awake while Naruto had packed up to leave but had feigned sleep throughout it all. Even when Naruto was sitting by him, apparently just watching him and not saying a word he hadn't stirred.

Sasuke hadn't wanted to say goodbye. Or rather he had, but he knew he shouldn't. He would have kissed him and he would have known that it might have been the last time and then he might have said something very stupid.

He might have admitted to something he didn't want to think about. That fleeting feeling of affection, the built up trust, the pleasant feeling of being able to escape his life for a while.

Naruto might have wanted Sasuke to come back. He might have wanted Sasuke to want to come back like he said. But Sasuke felt that if this kept going on he might soon _need_ to. And until Naruto needed him too, his feelings could be kept to himself.

* * *

_Now this is where the story was supposed to end but…meanwhile…_

Sai made his way from the new temple towards the hotel where the monks told him Naruto was staying. He was just about to cross the street and enter the building when Naruto came walking out. He looked up, shocked and a little anxious when he saw his teammate.

"Oh, hi Sai! Didn't expect you so early. But I'm all done, sorry you came all this way for nothing."

"It's done?" Sai asked.

"Yep, all done."

"And you collected the payment from the monks?"

Naruto closed his mouth quickly. "Oh, I forgot about that. Don't worry, I'll run up and get it, won't take a moment."

Sai watched Naruto sprint off and leant back against the side of the building to wait for Naruto. He'd moved away from the entrance though which is probably why the Uchiha didn't notice him when he walked outside about ten minutes later.

Sasuke had his back to Sai most of the time, but Sai recognised him easily enough from their past encounter. He was more than surprised to see Uchiha Sasuke here of all places and normally he would have moved to take him into custody or at least follow him to see if a better opportunity presented itself to do so but Sai didn't move away from the wall as Sasuke walked off in the opposite direction for one very good reason.

Both Sasuke and Naruto had emerged from the same building minutes apart. It was a huge coincidence and that's all it might have been if it weren't for the fact that Naruto looked so uneasy about seeing Sai so close to the hotel this morning. These two things made Sai believe that Naruto knew Sasuke was here and hadn't told Sai because he didn't want Sasuke captured here and now.

Weird, considering how much time Naruto normally devoted towards chasing the Uchiha rogue down, but in all reality it had taken Sai a long time to understand Naruto's bond with Sasuke in the first place. So who new what was happening here. He didn't for one moment believe Naruto was caught up in anything underhanded because the mission seemed to be a success, but it did make him wonder what was really going on here.

So Sai let Sasuke walk away and Naruto turned up a few moments later with a big grin and a heavy pouch.

"Ready?"

Sai nodded and followed Naruto down the road in the opposite direction Sasuke had taken. When they were out of the gates, Sai's curiosity made him ask one question.

"Did anything happen on the mission?"

Naruto grinned at him, one of those big happy grins he usually only reserved for bowels of ramen.

"Lots of things. But it had a pretty happy ending. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

_Hmm, still weird but definitely interesting, _Sai thought to himself.

* * *

_Well, well, well, bet you didn't see THAT ending coming. Meh, I had to do something a little different and it doesn't really hurt the story much by Sai knowing or at the very least suspecting what might have happened. After all he might not really realise the full impact because it's a big leap to see them both in the same place to knowing they're secret fuck buddies. But I think I gave the impression that Sai suspects something happened between them after seeing Naruto's happy post all night fuck session glow. But hey, Sai isn't the quickest thinker when it comes to people so who knows. So did it spoil it or make it better? I'll let you all decide. Really I wanted to put something else in there because the original chapter ended with Sasuke's POV so we really didn't need to read that part again so why not put something newer and juicier in? But we can obviously assume that Sai didn't let on to Naruto cause that would mess with already written plot for the next story._

_Oh and it occurs to me that writing for Sasuke takes longer. Who knew, I thought Sasuke's thoughts would be more straightforward but I can see now that although his dialogue is more straightforward his thinking processes are not. This chapter is almost twice the size of the original and I was really shocked when I noticed that, but in all reality I think most of the chapters apart from the first one ended up that way. My Sasuke seems to live internally which makes internal dialogue longer and a little more confused because Sasuke isn't the most emotive guy in the world, even to himself in my stuff anyway. But hey, I seem to like to make things more difficult for myself than they need to be and all I can hope now is that you liked it anyway._

_Thanks be to Jiraiya-I'll Come Back-Tsunade who wanted me to do this. I hope it was everything you wanted it to be _

_Happy New Year Everyone!_

_Dash._


End file.
